A study of cancer deaths across India has revealed that the risk of dying of cancer is nearly the same in rural as in urban areas. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada in collaboration with some Indian institutions. Cancer is not a disease of the rich or of the educated. The death rate is twice as high among the least educated as among the highest educated adults. Tobacco related cancer accounts for 40% cancer deaths among men and nearly 20% among women. It is estimated that India had 500,000 cancer deaths in 2010. More than 70% of these deaths occur between the ages of 30 and 69 years. The toll taken by cancer in India is, however, considerably lower than in the US. The findings are based on the Million Death Study which is an effort to document the causes of child and adult deaths through the process of ‘verbal autopsies’. There are different types of cancer—oral, stomach and lung cancers being common among men while women suffer from cervical, breast and stomach cancer.
The study has shown strikingly sharp variations in cancer mortality among the states of India. The highest incidence alarmingly is in the Northeastern states while the lowest is in the neighbouring states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. It is not easy to understand why the Northeast has a cancer mortality nearly four times higher than in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. Scientists are wondering whether or not it may be due to diet or infections. What is meant by inflections is a bit of a puzzle. That may happen to the same extent in any state. But the people in the Northeastern states may do well to give some thought to changing their diet. Unfortunately habit dies hard.