India is expected to witness a significant rise in cancer cases over the coming decades, with the total number projected to approach nearly 2 million by 2040, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Addressing supplementary questions during Question Hour, Singh said India currently ranks third globally in terms of cancer prevalence, following China and the United States. He noted that while cancer incidence has increased worldwide, the numbers in India are also steadily climbing.
“It is true that cancer incidence has increased all over the world. If you take the world statistics, we have 20 million cancer patients every year, that is around 2 crore cancer patients every year. In India alone, we have about 1.4 to 1.5 million, which is almost 15 lakh.
“The figure is expected to go up to almost 2 million by 2040 or so, which means nearly 20 lakh. We stand at number 3, after China and the USA, as far as the prevalence of cancer is concerned,” Singh told the Upper House.
The minister attributed the rising cancer burden to changes in the country’s disease profile over the years. He explained that until the 1980s, communicable diseases were the primary health challenge in India, followed by a growing dominance of non-communicable diseases in later years. Currently, the country faces the dual burden of both.
Singh also pointed out a worrying shift in age patterns, with several diseases now appearing earlier in life than before.
“The irony is that many of these diseases, including cancer, which were earlier happening in the later decades of life, are now happening in the earlier decades. Cancer of a later age can now happen at an earlier age. The same is with heart attacks, which were earlier happening late in life, are now happening at a younger age,” he said.
While highlighting that nearly 70 per cent of India’s population is under the age of 40, the minister said the growing number of citizens aged 60 and above has also contributed to the increasing disease burden.
On the treatment front, Singh said the government has launched an ambitious initiative to strengthen cancer care infrastructure by providing oncology facilities in almost every district hospital. He added that cancer patterns vary across regions, citing the higher incidence of head and neck cancers in the northeastern states.
Referring to prevention, the minister informed the House that the Department of Biotechnology has developed the country’s first indigenous HPV vaccine, which plays a preventive role against cervical cancer, a disease more commonly affecting young women in India.
“About the vaccine, the Department of Biotechnology has come out with the first-ever HPV vaccine, which is said to have a preventive role in the prevention of cervical cancers, which are said to be more prevalent among young females in India.
“We are negotiating with the health ministry on how best to make it available to a larger population at an affordable price or free of cost,” Singh said.
He was responding to a question raised by Congress member Rajani Ashokrao Patil regarding the government’s measures to ensure timely access to affordable cancer medicines for economically disadvantaged patients.