Rise in cancer cases sets alarm bells ringing in Himachal

{Health check}
Himachal has seen a surge in cancer cases in recent years, with the case count rising to 32,909 at the state’s six medical institutes, as informed by the state government in a written response after the issue was brought up in the monsoon session of the state assembly.
Of the total cases, 19,135 cases are at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, followed by 11,343 at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Shimla and 1,471 cases at the Dr YS Parmar Government Medical College in Nahan.
According to the data provided by the Union health ministry in the Rajya Sabha earlier this year, the estimated cancer incidence cases in Himachal were 8,978 in 2021. This number increased to 9,164 in 2022, 9,373 in 2023, and 9,566 in 2024.
Meanwhile, data gathered from IGMC Shimla showed that 2,682 new cancer patients were registered at the hospital in 2021, followed by 2,439 patients in 2022 and 2,233 new patients in 2023. This year so far, 1,485 new cancer patients have been registered and among them the highest number of patients, 441, is from Shimla district. The highest number of new patients from last year, 629, were from Shimla as well.
Given the high numbers, the state government had last month announced the decision to provide 42 medicines free of cost to cancer patients at government hospitals. The drugs were included in the state’s essential medicine list.
Among the free of cost medicines to be provided by the state government are — Trastuzumab vaccine, which costs approximately ₹40,000. A breast cancer patient requires about 18 doses of this vaccine annually for treatment. To provide this vaccine, the state government will spend around ₹7,00,000 per patient.
The state government, in a statement last month, said the highest number of cancer cases has been reported in the north-eastern states of the country and HP has come second in the country in cancer cases.
Dr Manish Gupta, the head of the radiotherapy department at IGMC Shimla, said, “Oral cancer is generally more prevalent across the country due to widespread tobacco chewing. However, in Himachal, lung cancer is more common because of high smoking rates. Our centre registers approximately 400 new cases of lung cancer annually.”
At Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital (SLBSGMCH) Mandi, there were 761 cancer patients in 2023 which was higher than 138 cancer patients in 2022 and 302 cancer patients in 2021.
Of the total 761 cases this year, 285 were lung cancer patients while 89 were cervix cancer and 22 breast cancer. 348 cases were classified under the “other” category.
Last month, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the government has approved ₹300 crore to strengthen cancer treatment facilities in the state. The government would provide ₹75 crore for developing infrastructure of centre for excellence, cancer care Hamirpur. Another ₹75 crore for bone marrow transplant facility in Chamiyana, Shimla and ₹150 crore for providing world class cancer treatment equipment in the Centre of Excellence Hamirpur.