6.9 Million Cancer Deaths Among Indian Women Were Preventable: Lancet Study

At least 63 percent of cancer deaths among women in India could have been prevented by simply reducing risk factors.

(Photo: The Quint)

At least 6.9 million cancer deaths among women in India were preventable, and 4.03 million were treatable, according to the latest Lancet Commission report on gender and cancer treatment based on 2020 data.

The biggest takeaway: At least 63 percent of cancer deaths among women in India could have been prevented by simply reducing risk factors, the study pointed.

What else? 37 percent of deaths could have been prevented with appropriate and timely treatment.

The focus of the report: The Lancet report – “Women, Power and Cancer” — highlights a societal indifference towards women’s health. It stresses how lack of knowledge and access to expertise sets women behind when it comes to:

• Cancer prevention

• Cancer detection

• Cancer care

It calls for gender and sex-inclusive policies and guidelines, while also pointing that women are not often in a position where they can determine the nature of their care.

One last thing: The report notes that cancer in women is less amenable to primary prevention than cancer in men. It called for more research when it comes to women and cancer.

"Even the causes of breast cancer, the most common cancer among women globally, are poorly understood, and of the risks identified, most (such as genetics and reproductive factors) are not amenable to change. More research is urgently needed to better understand the causes of cancer in women, including occupational and environmental factors, some of which have only been raised as potential hazards over the past 5 –10 years," it observed.