Discussion on ‘Cancer in North East’ draws attention to growing incidence of disease
SHILLONG: The Welcome Trust/DBT India Alliance and the Indian Institute of Public Health, Shillong organised a public engagement event, “Let’s Talk Cancer in the North East” at the State Convention Centre here on Tuesday to discuss the issue of cancer in the North East.
The event was part of ‘Voices for Health’, an initiative that aims to celebrate biomedical research, discuss its impact and to create better understanding of public health issues in the country. The discussion assumes significance in light of growing incidence of cancer in India and particularly in the North East.
India’s emergence as a fast growing economy and its consequential change in lifestyle-related behaviours are partially responsible for the country’s increasing cancer burden. The disease is among the top leading causes of death in both rural and urban India. According to the latest National Cancer Registry Program, some of the highest incidence of cancer rates in the country was observed in Aizawl district in Mizoram and East Khasi Hills District in Meghalaya.
The discussion covered various aspects of the disease, ranging from risk factors for cancer, cancer diagnosis, disease management, socio-cultural behaviour towards cancer and more.
The panel included, Dr Preet Dhillon, epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, who started the discussion by giving an overview of cancer incidence in India, with particular focus on Meghalaya and the North East.
The other panelists included prominent clinicians and academics from Shillong, Dr Judita Syiemlieh, oncologist at Civil Hospital Shillong, Prof (Dr) P Bhattacharya, Head, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care at NEIGRIHMS, Dr Caleb Harris, Surgical Oncologist at NEIGRIHMS and Editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim.
At the outset, Dr Dhillon alluded to the recent data from the ICMR Cancer Registry Program when talking about the 15 million cancer cases every year in India and admitted that registry programs such as these focused on small population pockets in the state but provided the best picture of cancer incidence.
Tobacco-related cancers: Meghalaya tops chart
It was clear from the data that the North East and particularly Meghalaya had highest incidence of cancer, and also the highest proportion of tobacco-related cancers in the country (male 69.5%, female 45%).
The data from the National Cancer Registry Program also showed that highest rates of tongue cancer and hypopharynx cancer in the world are in Meghalaya.
Dr Dhillon opined that at least 15 years of data is required to be able to suggest conclusively how cancer rates are changing and suggested investigations in North East should focus on the varieties of local tobacco and its consumption pattern, dietary habits, infections, genetic susceptibility, environmental exposure.
In her address, leading oncologist in Shillong, Dr Syiemlieh highlighted the need for building manpower in the health professions and promoting tobacco control more aggressively to tackle cancer effectively.
Dr Caleb Harris, who recently moved to NEIGRIHMS, talked about the different cancer therapies.
He informed the audience that at NEIGRIHMS, they have created a multidisciplinary team of cancer surgeons, radiologist, palliative care professionals, pathologist who discuss and decide the best possible treatment for different cancer cases that come to the hospital.
Dr Bhattacharya, who was instrumental in starting the first palliative care centre in Meghalaya (NEIGRIHMS), stressed on the importance of emotional support for cancer patients. He was of the opinion that failure to cure cancer does not equal complete failure of the treatment and cancer treatment should always be accompanied by palliative care for the patient.
Editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim, encouraged the audience, specially the younger health professionals and scientists, to write more about health for popular media. She called for more comprehensible science writing related to cancer and other diseases to be made available to the media.
The event was attended by primarily young audience comprising of doctors, academics, patients, students of social work, nursing, counseling & psychology and allied health, members of NGOs and the general public.