Cancer is emerging as a major public health concern in India with the
ongoing demographic and epidemiological transition. This paper uses a
nationally representative household survey to look at the general
prevalence and economic burden of cancer in India. The average out of
pocket spending on inpatient care in private facilities is about
three-times that of public facilities. These efforts should specialize
in the ten cancers contributing the very best DALYs in India, including
cancers of the stomach, lung, pharynx aside from nasopharynx, colon and
rectum, leukemia, oesophageal, and brain, and Systema nervosum,
additionally to breast, lip and oral cavity, and cervical cancer, which
are currently the main target of screening and early detection programs.
India's current burden of 10,00,000 incident cancers is that the results
of an epidemiologic transition, improved cancer diagnostics, and
improved cancer data capture. The increasing incidence of cancer in
India with wide interstate variations offers useful insights and
important lessons for developing countries in managing their increasing
cancer burdens. Overall, the cancer epidemiology literature from India
is thinly dispersed. More studies with robust designs representing all
parts of the country are currently needed.