To Ensure Early Detection and Proper Care, SC Directs 19 States To Declare Cancer A Notifiable Disease
Supreme Court heard a PIL which states absence of uniform notification has created stark disparities in cancer surveillance, resulting in delayed diagnosis, higher treatment costs and poor patient outcomes.
PIL before Supreme Court seeks to declare cancer a "notifiable disease" to ensure early detection and proper care of patients.
The Supreme Court today has directed 19 states and Union territories to declare cancer a "notifiable disease" to ensure early detection and proper care of patients.
A CJI Surya Kant led bench has directed so after it was informed that 17 of the 36 states and UTs have so far notified cancer as a "notifiable disease" in light of the recommendations made in a parliamentary standing committee report.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Doctor Anurag Srivastava, seeking a direction to declare cancer a "notifiable disease" across the country to ensure early detection and proper care of patients.
A bench also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana has asked the Centre as to why it is not issuing "some mandatory guidelines for all states/UTs", saying there should be uniform policy.
The petition states that continued non-notification of cancer, despite its alarming and escalating burden in India, amounts to a grave abdication of the State's constitutional duty under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, as it denies uniform treatment to similarly-situated citizens and undermines their fundamental right to health and a life with dignity.
As per Srivastava, the absence of mandatory reporting has led to fragmented data, poor surveillance and a "policy paralysis" in addressing India's growing cancer epidemic. It thus urged the court to direct authorities to declare cancer a notifiable disease nationwide and establish a unified, real-time digital cancer registry akin to the CoWIN platform launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Court has been told although health is primarily a state subject under the Constitution, both the Centre and the states hold concurrent authority to notify diseases.
Notably, the PIL highlights major deficiencies in the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) operated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The registry currently covers only about 10 per cent of the country's population, with rural coverage as low as 1 per cent. Adding to this crisis is the growing menace of unscientific and unverified alternative cancer treatments, such as the widely-circulated claim of Gomutra (cow urine) as a cure for cancer, the plea adds.