New Delhi, October 9 (IANS). India has the highest incidence of oral cancer among countries in South Asia, mainly due to the increased use of smokeless tobacco products, such as pan masala which contains tobacco, gutkha, khaini and betel nuts. This information was received from a study on Wednesday.
The study was conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and published in the journal ‘The Lancet Oncology’. According to the study, out of 1,20,200 oral cancer cases worldwide in 2022, 83,400 cases were in India alone, which were caused by smokeless tobacco and betel nut.
The highest incidence of oral cancer among women was due to betel nut (30%) and paan masala (28%) containing tobacco, followed by gutkha (21%) and khaini (21%). Whereas among men, the highest number of cases were seen due to Khaini (47%), Gutkha (43%), Pan Masala with tobacco (33%) and Betel nut (32%).
“Smokeless tobacco and betel nuts are available in different forms around the world, but their consumption is linked to many diseases, especially oral cancer,” said Dr. Harriet Rumge, a scientist in IARC’s Cancer Surveillance Division.
He added, “We found that more than 120,000 people around the world developed oral cancer that could have been caused by the use of smokeless tobacco or betel nuts. These figures show the huge health burden these products pose.” And how much measures are needed to stop their consumption.”
The IARC study also found that out of the total 3,89,800 oral cancer cases worldwide in 2022, 1,20,200 cases could be due to the use of smokeless tobacco and betel nuts. This means that if their use were stopped, about 31% of oral cancer cases could be prevented.
Additionally, more than 95% of oral cancer cases caused by smokeless tobacco and betel nuts are found in low- and middle-income countries. Of which there were 1,15,900 cases.
India is followed by Bangladesh (9,700), Pakistan (8,900), China (3,200), Myanmar (1,600), Sri Lanka (1,300), Indonesia (990), and Thailand (785).
“Smoking control has improved, but progress in curbing smokeless tobacco use has stalled, and betel nut use is still largely uncontrolled,” said Dr. Isabelle Sorgiomatram, deputy head of IARC’s Cancer Surveillance Division.
The study called for prioritizing control of smokeless tobacco and devising a framework to stop betel nut consumption.
–IANS
AS/
