Andhra Pradesh Uncovers 117 Malignant Cancer Cases in Statewide Screening Initiative, ET HealthWorld

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh’s medical and health department has made significant progress in its cancer screening initiative under the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) 3.0 survey.

As part of the survey, the department conducted door-to-door screenings for oral, breast, and cervical cancers across the state, targeting people aged above 18 years.

The survey revealed that out of 1,367 cancer suspects examined at Preventive Oncology Units (POUs), 117 individuals were diagnosed with various types of cancer in the malignant stage, while 53 cases were detected in the pre-malignant stage. The department has screened 69% of the target population across all 26 districts in the state, identifying 4.10 crore people for Oral cancer screening and screening 2.84 crore individuals.

There were 1.02 crore suspect cases found by ANMs during the door-to-door screening, and 87,045 people were examined by medical officers (MOs) at the PHC level, out of which 489 individuals were examined at POUs set up at the 17 govt medical colleges in the state.

Similarly, a total of 2.07 crore females were identified for Breast cancer screening, out of which 1.46 crore people were screened so far. There were 47,854 suspect cases identified by ANMs, and 634 were examined at POUs, with 51 diagnosed at the malignant stage.

For cervical cancer, a total of 2.07 crore females were identified for screening, out of which 1.46 crore individuals were screened. There were 50,028 suspect cases, and 244 cases were examined at POUs, with 19 cases detected in the malignant stage.

“People living in rural areas are turning up in good numbers for cancer screening, given they are familiar with the healthcare personnel working in their localities. However, people residing in urban areas are reluctant to provide their details as they are mistaking that these cancer screening tests are being conducted by private hospitals and suspect misuse of data,” an NCD consultant overseeing the cancer screening tests told TOI.

Meanwhile, health minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav reviewed the cancer screening survey result analysis with government advisor for cancer diseases and world-renowned Oncologist Dr Nori Dattatreyudu and special chief secretary (medical and health) MT Krishna Babu on Tuesday.

Dr Dattatreyudu suggested the govt to immediately issue a notification notifying cancer as a notifiable disease to maintain a reporting system to keep track of the disease trends in the state. He also suggested the govt to set up a dashboard with details on the range of cancer testing and treatment services available at both govt and private hospitals in the state.

Meanwhile, Krishna Babu mentioned that the state govt is developing King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam, TATA Trust Hospital, and govt general hospitals (GGHs) in Guntur, Kurnool, and Tirupati as main hubs for providing cancer care in the state.