MUMBAI: Cancer screening after a certain age should be made mandatory in the country, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said today, and asked researchers to make path-breaking advances in cancer prevention and treatment.
Addressing a graduation ceremony at the Tata Memorial Centre here, he also called for greater emphasis on inventing strategies in the battle against cancer.
“Two-thirds of advanced cancer cases are preventable. Therefore, early detection and treatment are the need of the hour. The Government should make it mandatory after a particular age for cancer screening. A healthy nation can become (a) wealthy nation,” Naidu said.
“We should educate and spread awareness about early detection and prevention of cancer,” he said.
Quoting the Indian Council of Medical Research data, Naidu said, “In 2016, the total number of new cancer cases was expected to be around 14.5 lakh and the figure is likely to reach nearly 17.3 lakh new cases in 2020. Over 7.36 lakh people were expected to succumb to the disease in 2016 while the figure is estimated to shoot up to 8.8 lakh by 2020.” (AGENCIES)
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