‘Tamil Nadu has 2nd highest number of women with cervical cancer’

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has the second highest number of women with cervical cancer, next only to Uttar Pradesh, according to a written reply furnished by minister of state for health and family welfare Satya Pal Singh Baghel on Friday to the queries posed by D Ravikumar (Villupuram) in the Lok Sabha. Baghel said there were 3.42 lakh women with cervical cancer in the country and Uttar Pradesh topped with 45,682 women with cervical cancer followed by Tamil Nadu with 36,014 women with cervical cancer. Maharashtra (30,414), West Bengal (25,822), Bihar (23,164), and Karnataka (20,678) are the other states where the incidence of cervical cancer among women was high. The number of cancer cases in Tamil Nadu rose from 6,872 in 2014 to 8,534 in 2023.Baghel said the National Health Mission (NHM) had rolled out a population-based initiative for prevention, control, and screening for common non-communicable diseases diabetes, hypertension, and common cancers. People aged above 30 years are screened for the common cancers cervical, breast and oral.He said the Centre provides financial assistance under the NHM to states and Union territories in the ratio of 60:40 (90:10 in the case of northern eastern and hilly states) to procure equipment to screen cervical cancer among other infrastructural facilities.