SC seeks response of Centre, states on PIL for mandatory national notification of cancer

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and all the states on a PIL filed by a renowned doctor seeking a direction to declare cancer a "notifiable disease" across the country to ensure early detection and proper care of patients.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took note of the submissions of lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal, appearing for Anurag Srivastava, highlighting the issue regarding failure by Union Health Ministry and the states to declare cancer as notifiable disease across India.

"Issue an appropriate writ...nature of mandamus against the Respondent No 1 (Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) to notify cancer as a notified disease for ensuring uniform and mandatory reporting of cancer cases in India," the plea said.

"Because the continued non-notification of cancer, despite its alarming and escalating burden in India, amounts to a grave abdication of the State's constitutional duty under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, as it denies uniform treatment to similarly situated citizens and undermines their fundamental right to health and life with dignity," the plea said.

Besides the Centre and all the states, Srivastava, the former head of the Department of Surgical Disciplines at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, has made the National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research as a party to the PIL.

The plea said that the absence of mandatory reporting has led to fragmented data, poor surveillance, and a "policy paralysis" in addressing India's growing cancer epidemic.

The petition urged the bench to direct authorities to declare cancer a notifiable disease nationwide, and to establish a unified, real-time digital cancer registry akin to the CoWIN platform used during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It said that although health is primarily a state subject under the Constitution, both the Centre and States hold concurrent authority to notify diseases.

This duality, the plea submits, has resulted in a "legal vacuum" wherein some states have notified cancer while many others have not and this has led to severe inconsistencies in reporting and early detection.

According to the petition, the absence of uniform notification has created stark disparities in cancer surveillance, resulting in delayed diagnosis, higher treatment costs, and poor patient outcomes.

It said that patients in many states are frequently diagnosed only at advanced stages, where curative treatment becomes "difficult, expensive, or impossible".

The PIL highlights major deficiencies in the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) operated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The registry currently covers only about 10% of India’s population, with rural coverage as low as one percent.

"Adding to this crisis is the growing menace of unscientific and unverified alternative cancer treatments, such as the widely circulated claim of Gomutra (cow urine) as a cure for cancer.

"An RTI filed before the Rashtriya Ayurveda Sansthan revealed that no scientific research has ever established Gomutra as an effective therapy for cancer. Yet, due to lack of regulation and public awareness, patients continue to fall prey to such misleading claims, resulting in delayed treatment and preventable deaths," it said.

This reflects an urgent need for the government to issue a clear policy statement distinguishing scientifically validated therapies from untested claims, ensuring that only evidence-based treatments, modern or traditional, are permitted to be practised or promoted in India, it said.

"In the above circumstances, it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may graciously be pleased to issue appropriate writs, orders, or directions in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent authorities to take immediate, coordinated, and legally enforceable measures for strengthening the national response to cancer," it said.

The plea has sought a direction to establish a centralised, real-time digital cancer registry integrated with NCRP, hospital databases, state insurance schemes and mortality records.

It also sought a direction to implement nationwide cancer screening. PTI SJK ZMN