A post is doing the rounds on social media platforms claiming that around 14,000 women were recently found to be suffering from cancer in Maharashtra's Hingoli.
What have users said?: Taking a dig at the media houses, an X (formerly Twitter) premium user named '@satyaagrahindia' said that the findings came out under the government's Sanjivani scheme.
What are the facts?: As per recent news reports, over 14,000 women were detected with "cancer-like symptoms" post-screening in Hingoli, Maharashtra.
This makes the viral claim slightly misleading, which can also result in spreading panic.
How did we find that out?: We conducted a keyword search using the words "hingoli maharashtra cancer" and found a news report published by the Press Trust of India (PTI).
It said that Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar informed the state assembly that over 14,500 women in Hingoli have been detected with "cancer-like symptoms".
This was found out while a screening was being done under the Sanjivani scheme.
Abitkar further said that one woman has been diagnosed with breast cancer, eight with oral cancer, and three with the cancer of the uterus.
These findings clearly contradicted the viral social media claim.
Are symptoms enough to conclude?: Team WebQoof checked the official website of United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS), which had listed down the symptoms of cancer.
It mentioned that most symptoms were common and could be possibly caused by other conditions as well.
The website clearly said, "Having these symptoms does not definitely mean you have cancer, but it's important to get checked by a GP [general practitioner].
Why is the claim misleading?: It is evident that having symptoms do not automatically mean being detected with the particular disease.
So, this made the claim misleading. We would like to highlight how such medical misinformation can spread panic among people.
Conclusion: Evidently, the claim of around 14,000 women in Hingoli being detected with cancer is misleading.
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