Aizawl, March 1 (IANS). Mizoram has the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in India. The age-wise cancer incidence rate for every 1 lakh males in Aizawl district is 269.4. Health officials gave this information on Sunday.
A senior official of the Health and Family Welfare Department said that stomach and lung cancer are most prevalent in the state. Its main reasons are excessive consumption of tobacco and betel nut, eating habits and genetic factors.
The official said the Mizoram government signed an Externally Aided Project Loan Agreement with the Asian Development Bank on January 23.
The project is titled “Supporting Public Health Care System Strengthening to Achieve Universal Healthcare for Mizoram”, popularly called Mizoram Universal Healthcare Scheme. He also informed that the Mizoram Health Systems Strengthening Project funded by the World Bank has been successfully implemented and is expected to be completed by March 2026.
Under the project, Mizoram State Super Specialty Cancer and Research Center is being built in Aizawl under the Health and Family Welfare Department.
Addressing an event in Aizawl on Saturday, state Health Minister Lalrinpui expressed concern that Mizoram was recording one of the highest number of cancer cases in the country in proportion to the population. The director of Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai had also commented that the number of cancer cases among Mizo patients coming there for treatment was unusually high.
The minister said that according to experts, excessive consumption of tobacco products, unhealthy diet, especially excessive use of smoked meat, pork fat and oil and lifestyle factors are the major factors for the increasing cases of cancer in the state.
He said that breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in India, followed by cervical cancer. Pointing out that 99.7 percent of cervical cancer cases are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), she described the free vaccination program as an important and welcome prevention measure and appealed to all eligible 14-year-old girls to get vaccinated.
Mizoram Chief Secretary Khilli Ram Meena, speaking at the same function, said that one in every five cervical cancer patients worldwide is from India. He described the free vaccination drive for the would-be mothers and teenage girls of the country as an important and timely step. The Chief Secretary said that Mizoram has the highest number of cases of cervical cancer in the country and the screening rate among women in the state is low.
Meena expressed hope that this initiative will save lives, strengthen families and help in the overall development of the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the nationwide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign to prevent cervical cancer for 14-year-old girls in Ajmer.
–IANS
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