The panel cautioned that India’s ability to carry out such targeted analysis is severely constrained by the absence of a comprehensive national cancer database
A parliamentary panel has flagged a worrying rise in cancer cases in India’s northeast, warning that the country lacks basic data needed to understand why some regions are reporting significantly higher cancer incidence than others.
The parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, environment, forests and climate change said India still does not have a clear picture of how many people are living with cancer – a gap that weakens efforts to design targeted prevention, treatment, and early detection strategies.
In its latest report, accessed by News18, the parliamentary committee flagged the “significantly higher incidence reported in the northeastern region of India” and said it is essential to examine whether certain ethnic groups in the region may be genetically predisposed to specific types of cancers.
“The committee believes that it is essential to examine whether the ethnic groups of the northeast are genetically predisposed to specific types of cancers,” the report stated.
To address this, it recommended that the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) collaborate with the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), “which has been conducting extensive work in population and cancer genomics”. It said such collaborative research should aim to “identify genomic signatures and risk factors unique to the North-Eastern population”, adding that these insights will be critical for “developing tailored cancer therapies, targeted prevention methods and early detection strategies for the northeastern population”.
The committee, however, cautioned that India’s ability to carry out such targeted analysis is severely constrained by the absence of a comprehensive national cancer database. It noted that there is no system that records every cancer case across the country and that most available estimates are based on limited and fragmented data.
ONLY 19% OF INDIA COVERED BY CANCER REGISTRIES
According to the report, “the committee notes with serious concern that India still does not have a nationwide, population-based cancer registry”.
“At present, the 52 population-based cancer registries and approximately 243 hospital-based cancer registries together cover only about 19% of the country’s population,” it said. “In the absence of a national-level database, it is impossible to accurately assess the true burden of cancer in the country.”
The panel pointed out that existing statistics are largely derived from extrapolations based on partial data. It said it was “particularly worrying” that a country with an advanced medical system like India lacks a unified national cancer registry, while many other countries maintain comprehensive nationwide databases.
Citing global examples, the report noted that “NORDCAN maintains cancer statistics for the Nordic countries, namely, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, providing a consolidated picture of incidence, prevalence, mortality, and survival rates”.
PUSH FOR NATIONWIDE CANCER REGISTRY
The parliamentary panel recommended to the ministry of health and family welfare to establish a nationwide population-based cancer registry, with districts designated as nodal units. It added that district-wide and state-wide registries should feed into a centralised national registry at the Union level.
“Maintaining a unified national database will provide an accurate and real-time picture of cancer incidence, prevalence, mortality and survival. This, in turn, will significantly strengthen evidence-based policymaking and program interventions for the prevention and control of cancer,” it said.
CANCER NOT A NOTIFIABLE DISEASE IN INDIA
The panel highlighted that cancer is not a notifiable disease in India, meaning hospitals and doctors are not legally required to report cancer cases to public health authorities.
The report stated that “hospitals and healthcare providers are presently under no legal obligation to report cancer cases to public health authorities because cancer is not a notifiable disease”. It noted that “making cancer a notifiable disease will result in capturing the incidence and pattern of cancer throughout India in a more comprehensive manner”, allowing data to be available at a granular level including districts.
