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Abstract
This study examines the cancer control programme in India. Cancer prevalence in India is estimated to be around 2.5 million, with over 8,00,000 new cases and 5,50,000 deaths occurring each year due to this disease in the country. The common sites for cancer in India are oral cavity, lungs, oesophagus and stomach in males and cervix, breast and oral cavity among females. Government of India developed the first statement on cancer control as early as 1971. The National Cancer Control Programme for India was formulated in 1984 with four major goals: Primary prevention of tobacco related cancers, early detection of cancers of easily accessible sites, Augmentation of treatment facilities, and Establishment of equitable, pain control and palliative care network throughout the country. The strategies for cancer prevention in India like prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment and palliative Care. However, the only randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of screening in reducing oral cancer mortality, currently ongoing in Thirvananthapuram, Kerala, has shown after two screening rounds that there is no difference in oral cancer related mortality rates in the study and intervention groups. The Tata Memorial Hospital has started a comprehensive cancer control program in the backward Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra. This program proposes to cover the eligible population of these two districts with two rounds of screening for oral, cervix and breast cancers at two-year intervals.