Abstract

Apart from disability and injury and other diseases there are communicable diseases (CDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that cause mortalities. While the occurrence of CDs is slowly increasing, the occurrence of NCDs is increasing very fast. Globally, one of the major health threats under NCDs is cancer, which causes millions of deaths every year. There are many risk factors for cancer. Broadly, they are classified into three groups: behavioral risks, environmental risks, and metabolic risks. Behavioral risks include dietary risk, tobacco consumption, high drug and alcohol use, etc. Environmental risks refer to risks related to air pollution, unsafe water and sanitation, occupational risks, etc., while metabolic risks are those risks caused by high blood pressure, high plasma glucose, high LDL cholesterol, etc. In India also, both cancer cases and cancer-related deaths are increasing fast. But public facilities available for cancer screening and treatment are few and far between. Hence people opt for private hospitals, where service is good but cost is very high, and so out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) is very high. Most of the patients affected by cancer are men, aged between 50 and 70 and belonging to a middle- or low income group. These views are supported by the primary data collected from Kanyakumari district. Of the surveyed patients, 56.67% are men and in the age group of 50–70 years, and 76.67% of cancer patients belong to either a low- or middle-income group. The OOPE is about 66%. A few suggestions are given to make people feel relieved from the hazards of cancer. However, under the prevailing situations, the prevention and control of cancer is a challenging task for the government of India.

Keywords

non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, cancer incidence rates, environmental risks, out-of-pocket-expenditure, public healthcare facilities