PASIGHAT, 17 Aug: Health Services Joint Director (T&R) Dr Dukhum Raina inaugurated the population-based cancer registry (PBCR) office at Bakin Pertin General Hospital (BPGH) here in East Siang district, in the presence of Medical Superintendent Dr YR Darang and hospital staff, on Tuesday.
Dr Raina informed that the PBCR is a project running under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR), headquartered in Bengaluru.
“The project, which was started at BPGH in 2011, has played a vital role in estimating and monitoring the incidence, mortality, patterns and projected number of cancer cases, evaluating the quality of care and cancer control programmes, and giving out essential inputs for programme, policy and research on cancer prevention, treatment and management,” the DIPRO informed.
Senior pathologist and principal investigator of the project, Dr Kaling Jerang informed that, along with other NCRP cancer registries in the Northeast region, the data from the project has established Northeast India as the cancer capital of the country “with age-adjusted cancer incidence rates of newly diagnosed cancer cases highest in India.”
“According to the report of the National Cancer Registry Programme-2020, released by the ICMR/NCDIR, Aizawl district in Mizoram recorded the highest incidence of new cancer cases among males (269.4 per 1,00,000) in India and Papum Pare district in Arunachal recorded highest new cancer cases among females (219.8 per 1,00,000) in the country,” said Dr Jerang.
He further informed that data from the PBCR Pasighat shows that cancers of stomach, lung and liver are the commonest among males, and cancers of cervix, breast and stomach are the commonest among females.
“Additionally, 29 percent, or one-third of cancers in males, and 10.9 percent of cancers in females are related to tobacco consumption. According to the study, the probability of one in numbers of person developing cancer in their lifetime was 1 in 7 among males and 1 in 8 among females among the population covered by the PBCR Pasighat,” the DIPRO added.
Dr Jerang expressed hope that “the cancer figures, trends and patterns that are brought out by the project may be used by the health officials, programme managers and other stakeholders in the state government and other sectors will help in policymaking decisions regarding cancer prevention, treatment and management.”
