Cancer is not a mandatorily notifiable disease like infectious diseases. Nor should it be considered so, because it is a non-infectious disease that does not spread from one person to another. The Center has said these things in the Supreme Court. Actually, the Central Government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in response to the notice issued on the writ petition of petitioner Anurag Srivastava.
In the petition, a demand has been made from the Union Health Ministry to include cancer in the list of notified diseases and to take measures related to monitoring. In response, the Health Ministry said that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends registering cancer and monitoring it under long-term epidemiology rather than the mandatory notification system created for infectious diseases. At the same time, the Center urged the Supreme Court not to interfere in policy matters and said that the existing mechanisms to manage cancer disease in the country are scientifically appropriate and constitutionally compliant.
Cancer Health is a state subject under the Constitution.
The central government stressed that cancer is not contagious and there is no risk of community spread. The affidavit said that health is primarily a state subject under the Constitution, and decisions regarding disease notification fall within the jurisdiction of state governments. So far, 17 states and union territories have notified the cancer for surveillance under their respective public health laws or executive orders.
Whereas nationwide cancer surveillance is already being carried out by ICMR through the National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP) and related population-based and hospital-based cancer registries.
Urge not to interfere in policy matters
The government in the affidavit highlighted several ongoing initiatives including the National Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Program (NP-NCD), Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, State Cancer Institute and Tertiary Cancer Care Centres, and said that these programs reflect its commitment towards cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment.
Leave a Reply