Telangana Declares Cancer a Notifiable Disease for Better Data & Care

The Department of Health, Medical and Family Welfare issued a Government Order in this regard on Tuesday, providing a mandatory reporting mechanism for all diagnosed cancer cases in the state to ensure availability of reliable and timely data for public health action.

As per the order, all cases of cancer including in situ and invasive cancers, diagnosed or registered at any healthcare facility, laboratories, or Registrar of Births and Deaths in the state must be reported within one month of such diagnosis or registration, through the portal in the prescribed format.

The objective of making cancer a notifiable disease is to create a robust surveillance system for cancer in the state which estimates cancer incidence, prevalence and mortality, augments preventive screening and early detection measures, assists planning for diagnostic and treatment facilities, palliative and rehabilitative care services, and evidence-based policy formulation, monitoring and research.

A uniform Cancer Registry for the state will serve as a centralised platform for estimation of cancer incidence and prevalence, reads the order.

The District Medical and Health Officer shall ensure all hospitals, institutions, bodies, and laboratories (both government and private) under his or her jurisdiction mandatorily report all diagnosed cases of cancer in their facility.

In order to facilitate this, each facility shall maintain a designated cancer register in the prescribed proforma, to record both existing and new cases from the date of this notification.

The Director of Public Health and Family Welfare shall monitor the timely submission and quality of such information submitted.

All hospitals empanelled under Rajiv Aarogyasri Health Scheme will be auto-registered and provided with login credentials to submit cancer case details through the state online portal.

All other hospitals, institutions, bodies, and laboratories should register online for login credentials to submit cancer case details through the state online portal.

The Mehdi Nawaz Jung Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre, Hyderabad shall function as Centre of Excellence for cancer care in Telangana and be responsible for periodical scrutiny and validation of individual cancer case information submitted, to ensure purified data is available with the state.

The order noted that the burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing steadily and has become a major public health concern.

Cancer has emerged as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, underscoring the need for a systematic and institutional mechanism to capture reliable and timely information on the disease burden in the state.

Accurate and comprehensive data on cancer incidence and prevalence, distribution and types are essential for assessing the magnitude and pattern of disease in the state, identifying risk factors, geographical and demographic variations, and for evolving an effective screening strategy, reads the order.

Cancer registration will provide information on diagnosis, treatment, palliative care, rehabilitative services and long-term follow-up. T

argeted policies and evaluation of interventions undertaken will channel effective resource management.

Presently, only institution-level registries are maintained at Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad and Mehdi Nawaz Jung Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre, Hyderabad under the state government.

The notification is applicable to all government (including autonomous), private and cooperative hospitals, including medical college hospitals, Employees' State Insurance, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, railways, industry, military hospitals and any other private clinics, nursing homes and hospices providing cancer treatment or care; AYUSH hospitals providing cancer care; Non-Governmental Organisations; Insurance Companies (government or private); Pathology and Radiology imaging laboratories; Vital Statistics Department or Registrar of Births and Deaths; and any other government or private sector scheme or programme collecting data on cancer cases.

- IANS