Team Blitz India
WITH the growing cancer prevalence in the country, it is important that a constant check is kept on its spread in a population. For this, regular assessment and analysis becomes essential for early diagnosis followed by its treatment.
Bengaluru-based National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), an autonomous institute under Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is actively involved in planning, direction, development, coordination, and evaluation of a national program of cancer surveillance. This objective is being achieved through a web-based assessment and analysis tool by the name “Cancer Samiksha.”
It is actively involved in cancer analysis in India on the basis of data derived from the National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP). Medical experts have different opinions about the spread and prevalence of cancer.
While some believe it is due to the growing life expectancy, others believe it is due to the adoption of western lifestyle, longer working hours, stressful lives, smoking and alcohol consumption, obesity, and leading a sedentary lifestyle. Environmental factors also play an important role in cancer contribution.
As Digital India Campaign is gaining popularity, digitisation has entered the healthcare sector as well. Online cancer registries by NCRP performs a systematic data collection on identified cancer parameters. It determines the extent of cancer spread, burden, occurrence of new cases, long-term changes in the trend, and determines the clinical parameters of different cancers.
Since December 1981, NCRP started as a long-term activity of ICMR with a countrywide network of cancer registries. It was categorized into population-based and hospital-based registries. Initially, population-based cancer registries (PBCR) began in three states of Bengaluru, Chennai, and Mumbai. While, the hospital-based cancer registries (HBCR) commenced at Chandigarh, Dibrugarh, and Thiruvananthapuram in January 1982.
The source population of PBCR includes government hospitals, private hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, diagnostic labs, imaging centres, and registrars of births and deaths. HBCRs deal with the information recording on cancer patients in a hospital which is irrespective of the residential status of the patient.
