Northeast witness continuous rise of cancer cases
The data from the National Cancer Registry Programme reaffirms states that the Northeast Indian states are continuously witnessing the rise in cancer cases. As per the report, Northeast region have the highest cancer occurrence rate in India. By 2025 the number of cancer cases is expected to increase by 13.5 per cent in this region.
According to the National Cancer Registry Programme survey in 2022 the cancer cases in Manipur has risen to 6.48 per cent from 3.71 percent in 2021. Similarly, Sikkim witnessed the rise of 6.67 per cent cancer cases in 2022. The other Northeastern states also witnessed the rise in cancer cases. In 2022, Tripura observed a rise of 3.51 percent. Mizoram also experienced a 3.44 percent increase, while Meghalaya saw a 2.79 percent increase in the same year. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland recorded increases of 2.45 percent, 2.16 percent and 2.71 percent respectively.
The Northeastern region experiences the high use of Tobacco products. About 70 percent of the population consume Tobacco which marks 26 percent higher than the national average. 28 percent of cancer in women and 57 percent of cancer in man are directly related to Tobacco. Among all Mizoram is the highest Tobacco consuming state in Northeast.
The Northeast Indian people also have an addictive behaviour of chewing raw betel nuts and other varieties of fermented betel nuts. They contain confirmed carcinogenic substances and highly contributes to the increasing cancer cases in the region. The other practices like regular consumption of alcohol and shidol, smoked pork, fermented and salted dry fish and other meats which contain high nitrosamines amount cause DNA damage which leads to cancer. Besides this, the consumption of vegetables and fruits containing residual pesticides also causes cancer in the region.
The cases of sexually transmitted cancer also occur in the Northeast region due to the lifestyle practices of the native population. Lack of sexual hygiene have contributed to the rise of Cervical cancer in the region. Breast cancer incident has also been linked in the region due to late pregnancies and obesity.
The available infrastructure for care of cancer is insufficient in the Northeast region and hence people are compelled to move outside the region for treatment. So, there is an urgent need to develop cancer control programme in the Northeast. Government should provide best treatment to cancer patients in the region. The efforts towards lowering the cancer prevention should be established to reduce the burden of cancer in northeast India.
