PASIGHAT, Aug 17: Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) office at Bakin Pertin General Hospital, Pasighat was inaugurated today by the JDHS (T&R) Dr. Dukhum Raina, in the presence of the Medical Superintendent Dr. Y. R. Darang.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Raina informed that PBCR is a project running under Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)- National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR), headquartered at Bengaluru. The project was started at BPGH, Pasighat in 2011 under the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) and it studies the burden, trends and patterns of cancer in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh. Since the beginning of the project, it has played a vital role in estimating and monitoring the incidence, mortality, patterns and projected number of cancer cases, evaluating the quality of care and cancer control programmes and giving out essential inputs for programme, policy and research on cancer prevention, treatment and management.
Senior Pathologist and Principal Investigator of the project Dr. Kaling Jerang informed that along with other NCRP Cancer Registries in the NorthEast Region (NER), the data from the project has established Northeast India as the cancer capital of the country with age-adjusted cancer incidence rates of newly diagnosed cancer cases highest in India. ICMR/NCDIR has released the most recent Report of National Cancer Registry Programme 2020 and the Profile of Cancer and other Health Indicators in North East Region 2021 based on the data from the project.
According to the above mentioned reports, Aizawl district in Mizoram recorded the highest incidence of new cancer cases among male (269.4 per 1,00,000) in India and Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh is highest in the country, among females(219.8 per 1,00,000), added Dr. Jerang. He further informed that data from PBCR Pasighat shows cancers of stomach, lung and liver are the commonest cancers among males and cancers of cervix, breast and stomach are the commonest cancers among females. Additionally, 29% or one third of cancers in males and 10.9% of cancers in females are related to tobacco consumption. According to the study, the probability of one in a number of people developing cancer in their lifetime was 1 in 7 among males and 1 in 8 among females among the population covered by PBCR Pasighat.
Dr. Jerang expressed hope that the cancer figures, trends and patterns that are brought out by the project may be used by the health officials, programme managers and other stakeholders in the state government and other sectors will help in policy making decisions regarding cancer prevention, treatment and management.