The plea emphasized that systematic cancer data collection covers only about 10% of the population. | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphotos
The Supreme Court on Friday (Dec 12, 2025) asked the Center to respond to a plea filed by a retired AIIMS oncologist to declare cancer a national disease.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued a notice to the Union Health Ministry, State Governments and Union Territories on a petition filed by Dr. By Anurag Shrivastava, represented by Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal. The plea highlighted that 90% of India’s population is currently not covered by any systematic cancer surveillance mechanism.
Mr. Bansal said only 17 of the 36 states and Union territories have taken steps to declare cancer a notifiable disease under their public health laws.
“This inconsistency has created a dangerous patchwork system that has left the vast majority of the country’s population without the benefits of mandatory cancer reporting, which is the cornerstone of effective disease surveillance, early detection and centralized data-driven policymaking,” the lawyer argued.
The petition says the failure to report has created a severe data black hole. “Without mandatory reporting, India’s National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP) operates with chronic and severe under-reporting,” he said.
He pointed out that systematic cancer data collection covers only about 10% of the population.
“Approximately 90% of India’s population remains outside the coverage of any systematic cancer data collection and thus the benefits of a coherent national cancer control program. This data deficit results in gross underestimation of the national cancer burden, leading to inaccurate policy planning, misallocation of scarce resources, and failure to effectively implement, monitor and evaluate life-saving screening programs.”
The crisis was exacerbated by the uncontrollable spread of dangerous disinformation. In this context, the petition referred to the promotion of “medicines” such as cow’s urine as a cure for cancer.
Published – 12 Dec 2025 21:36 IST
