Dr. Manigreeva Krishnatreya, Medical Officer of BBCI and lead author of the study said, the national cancer burden study has highlighted the changing cancer burdens in India from 1990 to 2016
KRC TIMES Assam Bureau
A study by doctors of Dr. B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI), Guwahati has shown changing cancer type and trends due to environmental pollution in the country. The study primarily focused on the trends of gallbladder, lung, and breast cancers. The study has been published in the international journal Advances in Human Biology, a publication of the Association of Clinicians. As per the study, there was rapid industrialization in the 1990s and with that, the resultant impact on the environment in terms of pollution has been growing ever since. Now, after more than a quarter of a century, the rise in environmental pollution has shown its impact on the rising number of cancer cases in the country.
According to Dr. Amal Chandra Kataki, Director of BBCI and a member of the Global Disease Burden study group for cancer, the rising incidence of cancer in the country is partly well explained by the burgeoning population and increase in life expectancy, leading to an expected increase in the number of cancer patients. However, an increase in the incidences and changing pattern of cancer cannot be solely due to the previously known prevailing risk factors in the population.
Curbing environmental pollution has inherent health benefits and prevention of cancer along with non-communicable diseases will have profound economic benefits in addition to preventing valuable loss of lives, further stated Dr Kataki.
Dr. Manigreeva Krishnatreya, Medical Officer of BBCI and lead author of the study said, the national cancer burden study has highlighted the changing cancer burdens in India from 1990 to 2016.
Despite the decline in the smoking population in the country, the burden due to lung cancer in both men and women combined in 2016 was third among all cancers compared to seventh in 1990. Similarly, lower risk of developing breast cancer among women residing in rural areas compared to urban areas suggests the underlying role of pollution for the same.
We are also happy to inform that, to mitigate the problem, recommendations from the study have been sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change of Government of India stated Dr. Krishnatreya.
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