On World Cancer Day, leading healthcare organisations, including Apollo Cancer Centres, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), and the Ahmedabad Hospitals & Nursing Home Association (AHNA), launched a nationwide campaign titled ‘Unify to Notify’. The initiative, announced on Tuesday, urges the central government to designate cancer as a notifiable disease—a move that healthcare experts believe is essential for improved disease management and patient outcomes.
At a press conference in Ahmedabad, Lt Gen (Dr) Velu Nair, Head and Chief Consultant at Apollo Cancer Centre, stressed the importance of mandatory cancer reporting. “By making cancer a notifiable disease, we can ensure that all cases are documented, allowing us to track incidence, mortality, and survival rates,” he stated.
India records over 1.4 million new cancer cases annually, a figure projected to reach 1.57 million by 2025. Lt Gen Nair also highlighted the need for comprehensive data collection. “India is still lagging in awareness. We must unite to achieve this goal. From the national to the district level, we need accurate figures,” he said.
Advocates of the move argue that classifying cancer as a notifiable disease would facilitate standardised treatment protocols, epidemiological analysis, and targeted prevention strategies. Dr Akash Shah, Senior Consultant in Medical Oncology at Apollo, noted, “Mandatory notification will revolutionise our understanding of regional cancer patterns, enabling more effective prevention programmes.”
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare had recommended in 2022 that cancer be classified as a notifiable disease. The ‘Unify to Notify’ campaign aims to build momentum for government action on this proposal.
Cdr Jelson Kavalakkat, Chief Operating Officer at Apollo Hospitals Ahmedabad, emphasised the initiative’s significance. “A collective voice is needed to tackle cancer. This step will lead to earlier detection, better treatment, stronger prevention efforts, and enhanced research, empowering the medical community to combat the disease more effectively,” he said.
Dr Dilip Gadhavi, Joint Secretary of IMA AKN Sinha Institute, echoed these sentiments, stating, “We strongly support this initiative. Making cancer a notifiable disease will address gaps in cancer surveillance and improve coordination among healthcare providers.”
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has also endorsed the move, arguing that mandatory reporting would provide crucial epidemiological data for evidence-based policymaking. Current cancer burden estimates in India are based on limited data, which hampers prevention efforts and resource allocation.
While 15 states, including Haryana, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Kerala, have already classified cancer as notifiable, campaigners are pushing for a nationwide mandate.
The government has declared many diseases as notified diseases; however, the notifiable diseases list varies across states. These diseases include infectious diseases caused by parasites, viruses, and bacteria. Here are 11 of the most common infectious diseases in India that have the potential to cause widespread infection if not controlled:
- AIDS
- Dengue Fever
- Hepatitis B
- Malaria
- Whooping Cough (Pertussis)
- Rabies
- Tetanus
- Viral Encephalitis
- Anaemia
Cdr Kavalakkat stressed the need for real-time data. “Existing figures may be underestimated—actual cases could be 1.5 times higher. A real-time monitoring system is essential,” he said.
Addressing potential challenges, Lt Gen Nair told Vibes of India, “It is not that the government is inactive. Progress has been made over the years. We now have data that did not exist 20 years ago. This is a process, but now is the time to take a major step forward. We must act swiftly.”
In response to arguments that cancer does not qualify as notifiable because it is non-communicable, Nair pointed out that other non-communicable diseases, such as snakebites, have been classified as notifiable. “Notification is based on disease burden and economic impact, not just communicability,” he said.
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