Cancer cases on the rise in state: Centre

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 3
In what appears to be a cause for serious concern, the cases of cancer have been on the rise for the past five years in Punjab, the Centre has said.
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav told Rajya Sabha member from Punjab Sant Balbir Singh during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament that the rising trend of cancer cases was also witnessed across the country with almost 15 lakh fresh cancer cases registered in India during 2023.
Replying to the Rajya Sabha member’s unstarred question, the minister said the cancer cases in Punjab went up from 37,744 in 2019 to 38,636 in 2020, 39,521 in 2021, 40,435 in 2022 and 41,337 in 2023.
On the measures being taken by the government to control the rates of cancer treatment drugs and tests, Jadhav said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had fixed ceiling prices of 131 anti-cancer scheduled formulations included in Schedule-I as per the provisions of the DPCO, 2013. In addition, the NPPA capped the trade margin of select 42 anti-cancer non-scheduled formulations.
“The Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) was launched to set up dedicated outlets known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) to provide quality generic medicines at affordable prices to all,” he said.
Further, Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT), an initiative launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, aims at providing affordable medicines for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases, he said.
“Cancer-related treatment is also available under Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) under three heads oncology-medical, surgical and radiation,” Jadhav said.