Last month's recommendation by a Rajya Sabha Committee headed by Narain Dass Gupta, urging the government to declare cancer a notifiable disease nationwide, is not just timely, it is long overdue. For too long, India has failed to assess the true burden of cancer, and what is not counted cannot be properly addressed.
The invisibility of cancer data has stymied planning, investment in research, awareness efforts, screening, and the development of diagnostics and drugs. Declaring cancer notifiable would be the first and most crucial step toward changing this trajectory.
Consider the numbers. India records nearly 9 lakh cancer deaths annually, with over 70,000 of these among young adults under 50 years of age. To put this in perspective, India reported approximately 2.7 million COVID-19 deaths over two years—a tragedy that shook the country and triggered an unprecedented policy response. Yet, cancer quietly kills nearly one million Indians every year, but without the urgency of a pandemic response.
Many of these deaths are preventable or manageable if diagnosed earlier and treated effectively.
The Hidden Cost of Cancer in a Young Nation
The challenge is even more stark when viewed through the lens of India’s demographic dividend. With more than 650 million young people, India’s future prosperity depends on a healthy and productive workforce. But cancers among the young are rising—often more aggressive, often diagnosed late, and often occurring in individuals who appear otherwise healthy.
Each premature death translates to decades of lost productivity and devastating social and economic consequences for families. If India aspires to be a developed nation by 2047, as Prime Minister Modi has called for, we must confront this silent epidemic that threatens the very foundation of our demographic advantage.
Critics argue that cancer is not a communicable disease and therefore does not warrant notifiable status. Yet, snakebites which kill 50,000 Indians every year are a notifiable condition in India—rightly so, because they are indeed an important public health concern.
However, if snakebites, which are non-communicable, can be made notifiable, why not cancer, a disease that disrupts the lives of millions of households in the country? If we measure snakebites to respond better, surely, we must measure cancer too.
Learning From Leading States
India already has precedents. Kerala, Mizoram, Punjab, and Karnataka have made cancer a notifiable disease. Their experiences demonstrate the value of real-time cancer registries in improving early detection, mobilising resources and tailoring interventions to local needs.
Kerala’s cancer registry, for instance, has enabled more accurate mapping of incidence and improved planning for oncology infrastructure. Mizoram, which has among the highest cancer rates in the country, has used notification data to inform tobacco control and public health campaigns. These state-level initiatives prove that cancer notification is not only possible but transformative.
What is at stake is more than data collection. Making cancer notifiable means acknowledging it as a national priority, ensuring every diagnosed case enters the public health record, and enabling policymakers to allocate resources intelligently.
It means researchers have the evidence to study cancer incidence and mortality patterns, pharmaceutical companies have the rationale to invest in drugs suited to Indian patients, and prevention campaigns can be targeted to the communities that need them the most. It also means we can finally challenge the notion of "rare" cancers in India. Today, many cancers are dismissed as rare in policy circles. A proper registry may reveal they are far more common than assumed.
Data Is the First Step to Action
India stands at a crossroads. We can continue treating cancer as an invisible crisis, or we can act decisively to confront it. While notification will not solve the problem by itself, without it, every subsequent effort - from screening to treatment to drug development - will rest on shaky foundations. The Parliamentary Committee has opened a door that must not be shut again. The government should act swiftly and decisively.
India has shown that when it mobilises, it can tackle daunting challenges - from polio eradication to the rapid scale-up of the COVID-19 vaccination. Cancer deserves no less urgency. For every life lost, for every family shattered, and for the future of India’s development, we must begin by accurately measuring the real magnitude of the problem.
(Urvashi Prasad is Former Director NITI Aayog and Senior Fellow Pahle India Foundation. She can be reached at @urvashi01. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)