Is India prepared for cancer tsunami
A cancer tsunami is coming to India. Will the warning signals be sufficient preparation? With two new detections every minute and three deaths every two minutes, the tsunami is already rising.
There are more than three million prevalent cases of cancer in India, though the real number is likely tripled due to a large number of cases left undetected and unreported. India is projected to see 1.23 million new cancer cases a year, with a 20% increase expected by 2020, leading to 1.7 million new cases a year by 2035. While this is alarming growth, other cancer-stricken countries are in the same range with much smaller populations.
The survival rate disparity is stunning. In India, 70% of new cases will lead to death within a year; it can be close to the reverse in the U.S. and elsewhere. Millions are dying from cancer, prematurely, without ever knowing they had the disease.
To address these enormous concerns, the solution must be two-pronged: Indians need to be better educated on the disease and they need to have better, more affordable access to early diagnosis and care. more