The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the States and Union Territories which have not yet notified cancer as a notifiable disease to consider doing so, stressing the need for a uniform policy for mandatory reporting of cancer cases.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was hearing a Public Interest Litigation seeking directions to notify cancer as a notifiable disease across the country.

During the hearing, the CJI asked the Union Government why mandatory guidelines could not be issued to ensure uniformity across the country.

CJI: “Why don't you issue some mandatory guidelines for all States/UTs? There should be uniform policy.”

Additional Solicitor General Anil Kaushik, appearing for the Union Government, submitted that health is a State subject and informed the Court that 17 States/UTs had already notified cancer.

The Court noted in its order that 17 States/UTs had already notified cancer as a notifiable disease, in light of the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in its 139th Report.

The bench directed the remaining States/UTs to consider the recommendations and take an appropriate decision.

“17 States/UTs have already notified cancer as notified disease...in light of recommendations made by Parliamentary Standing Committee in 139th Report,” the Court recorded.

The Court further directed the States and UTs to file compliance affidavits.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, in its 139th Report titled "Cancer Care Plan and Management: Prevention, Diagnosis, Research & Affordability of Cancer Treatment", had recommended that cancer be classified as a notifiable disease.

The Committee observed that the absence of mandatory notification resulted in under-reporting of cancer deaths. It noted that the actual cause of death was at times not properly recorded, with deaths being attributed simply to causes such as cardio-respiratory failure.

The Committee agreed with the suggestion of Tata Memorial Centre that cancer should be classified as a notifiable disease so that cancer deaths would have to be mandatorily reported to the government.

It further said that making cancer a notified disease would help create a robust database of cancer deaths and provide more accurate information about the incidence and prevalence of cancer in the country. Such data, the Committee said, could assist in analysing risk factors, implementing screening programmes and allocating resources for cancer care.

The Committee had also recommended creation of a CoWIN-like web portal for cancer registration and real-time data collection, along with counselling and supportive resources for patients.

A notifiable disease is a disease which healthcare professionals or other designated entities are legally required to report to government authorities when it is diagnosed or otherwise comes within the scope of the notification.

Mandatory notification enables governments to collect systematic data, monitor the incidence and distribution of a disease and plan public-health interventions.

The concept is more commonly associated with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, dengue and malaria. Cancer, however, is a non-communicable disease. The Parliamentary Committee had specifically noted that this does not prevent it from being made notifiable where mandatory reporting is considered necessary for maintaining accurate data.

In the context of cancer, mandatory notification would enable authorities to obtain more comprehensive information on diagnosed cases and deaths, including from healthcare facilities that may not otherwise contribute data to cancer registries.