Cancer cases have been on the rise in Meghalaya even as the number of people who died from the disease has increased.
This is as per the Indian Council of Medical Research – National Cancer Registry Programme (ICMR-NCRP) which listed the estimated number of incidences and estimated number of mortalities of cancer cases in the country during 2020 to 2022.
According to the figures, there were 2879 cancer cases in the State in 2020. The cases rose to 2943 in 2021 and 3025 in 2022.
The number of people who died due to cancer in the State is also showing a rising trend.
In 2020 as many as 1887 people in the State died from cancer. The death toll went up to 1928 in 2021 and 1980 in 2022.
The Central government has released funds to Meghalaya to combat cancer and other non-communicable diseases under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD), as part of National Health Mission (NHM).
In 2020-21, the fund received by the State under NP-NCD was Rs 46.55 lakh. In 2021-22, the amount released was Rs 416.03 lakh while in 2022-23, the amount was increased to Rs 407.60 lakh.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, provides technical and financial support to the states and union territories under NP-NCD, as part of National Health Mission (NHM), based on the proposals received from the states and union territories and subject to the resource envelope.
Cancer is an integral part of NP-NCD. The programme focuses on strengthening infrastructure, human resource development, health promotion and awareness generation for cancer prevention, early diagnosis, management and referral to an appropriate level of healthcare facility for treatment of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), including cancer. For activities up to district level and below, states are given financial assistance under NHM in the ratio of 60:40 (90:10 in case of North East and hilly states).
