AIZAWL, Feb 4 - With nearly 1,152 new cancer cases and nearly 700 deaths reported every year, Mizoram, with a population of just 11 lakh, continues to be the state with the highest cancer cases in the country.
According to the population-based Cancer Registry data highlighted during the World Cancer Day function held here today, officials said that Mizoram witnessed 4,656 new cancer cases in the last three years. On average, Mizoram records 1,152 new cancer cases every year.
Health Minister R Lalthangliana said that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 18.1 million new cancer cases across the world. �Medical experts have said that 30-50 per cent cancer cases can be avoided if we change our lifestyle,� the Minister said and stressed the need to abstain from tobacco and eat healthy food.
Dr Eric Zomawia, state nodal officer, National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS), said that lung cancer was common among women due to rampant smoking, and the habit of eating smoked food was causing stomach cancer.
�Lung cancer is highest in Mizoram whereas other states mainly report cervical, neck and breast cancer. Apart from patients from across Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, we have to cater to Mizo patients from neighbouring Myanmar as well,� he said.
Since 2001, when the first cancer data was compiled for the state, Mizoram has seen the highest per capita incidences of cancer in the country. The first cancer data revealed that six of the state�s eight districts ranked among the top 10 cancer-affected districts across India. With 209 out of every one lakh residents of Aizawl district alone suffering from various forms of cancer, it is most cancer-ravaged district in the country.
