A parliamentary committee, in its latest report, has urged the Centre to declare cancer a notifiable disease nationwide and to levy a special tobacco cess to fund cancer research and care. The message is that without comprehensive data, the fight against one of the country’s fastest-growing health crises is being waged blindfolded.

At present, cancer statistics in India come largely from the National Cancer Registry Programme, which covers only about 18% of the population. Several states already treat cancer as notifiable, but there is no uniform national policy. This........

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