The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) for the first time has included certain new parameters in its survey, including screening forcancer, among Women in the age group 30 to 49 years.
InJharkhand, only 0.5% of the surveyed women have confirmed to have undergone screening forcervicalcancer. This figure of respondents is better than neighbouring Chhattisgarh and West Bengal where only 0.3% and 0.2% women have been screened.
In another neighbouring state Bihar, 0.8% women Population have undergone screening whereas in Punjab, infamous for cancer cases as many as 2.5% women confirmed to have undergone screening for cervical cancer. Though this figure, which is under 5% in most of the states, appears miniscule, health experts believe that not all women require scientific screening and only a certain faction of the women in reproductive age group, who are either symptomatic or in high-risk category are required to undergo screening (on diagnostic machine) for detection and treatment.
Among the districts, Giridih with 1.9% responses is at the top whereas in Jamshedpur and Dumka, not a single woman in the sample survey responded to have undergone screening for cervical cancer ever. In Ranchi, 0.3% women have undergone screening where the sample size was 979 households comprising 1,182 women and 156 men respondents for the entire NFHS-5 survey.