Government Health care providers along with experts fromCancer Institutewill help the state identify two-thirds ofcancersin the first and second stage so they can improve treatment outcomes and prevent deaths due to the disease.
Earlier this month, oncologists reported at least a 30% reduction in fresh cases of cancer in Nadu since 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, besides delays and disruptions in treatment as most people could not travel during lockdowns and some feared getting infected with Covid-19 in hospitals.
The effect of delayed diagnosis and treatment is likely to be more severe among Women when compared to men, oncologists say. Unlike in developed countries, more women in India are diagnosed with cancer when compared to men. Nearly 40% cases of cancer in women are either cervix or breast cancer, and this skews the cancer ratio across most states in the country, including Tamil Nadu.