Cancer Deaths Rising In India Can be Prevented

Cancer is the second biggest killer in India, with 8.3 percent of all deaths in 2016 occurring because of it. This is double the contribution of cancer deaths in 1990, found a new study published in The Lancet. To put it in stark numbers, in these 26 years, there has been a 112.8 percent increase in deaths due to cancer. However, the age-adjusted cancer prevalence rate has remained the same. That’s because of the change in our age structure over the years. Most cancer cases occur in the older population, which is growing in the country. When that is standardised across the younger population, the rate remains the same even as the number of cases increase. This highlights the need for early detection, better access, and affordable cancer care for Indians as they grow up.