The Supreme Court has directed the 19 States and Union Territories that have not yet done so to consider declaring cancer as a notifiable disease. At present, 17 of India’s 36 States and UTs have already notified cancer.
Why is Cancer Notification Important?
The direction came in the backdrop of concerns regarding the limited coverage of the ICMR’s National Cancer Registry Programme, which reportedly covers only around 10% of India’s population, with rural coverage as low as 1%. Making cancer notifiable would ensure mandatory reporting of diagnosed cases, creating a more systematic database for surveillance, early detection, treatment planning and healthcare resource allocation.
Notifiable Disease
Meaning
A notifiable disease is a disease that is legally required to be reported to public health authorities. In India, notification is linked to public-health surveillance frameworks such as the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), managed by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Implications of Notification
Once a disease is declared notifiable, healthcare providers, hospitals and medical practitioners are required to report suspected, probable and confirmed cases to designated authorities. This enables governments to collect comprehensive data and monitor disease trends.
Examples
Commonly notified diseases include Tuberculosis, Dengue, Malaria, Cholera, Hepatitis, Measles, Leptospirosis and Polio. COVID-19 was declared universally notifiable during the pandemic. More recent examples include snakebite in 2024 and human rabies in 2025.
India’s Decentralised System
India does not have a single uniform national list of notifiable diseases. The power to notify diseases primarily rests with State/UT governments, resulting in variations in the diseases notified across different States and Union Territories.
International Health Regulations
The International Health Regulations (IHR), 2005, under the WHO, constitute a legally binding international framework requiring countries to notify the WHO about public-health risks or events that may have international health implications, regardless of their origin or source.
Significance for India
Declaring cancer notifiable can strengthen India’s cancer surveillance system, improve the availability of reliable epidemiological data, identify geographical and demographic patterns, support early detection, and enable better planning of cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and healthcare infrastructure.
We provide offline, online and recorded lectures in the same amount.
Every aspirant is unique and the mentoring is customised according to the strengths and weaknesses of the aspirant.
In every Lecture. Director Sir will provide conceptual understanding with around 800 Mindmaps.
We provide you the best and Comprehensive content which comes directly or indirectly in UPSC Exam.
If you haven’t created your account yet, please Login HERE !
We provide offline, online and recorded lectures in the same amount.
Every aspirant is unique and the mentoring is customised according to the strengths and weaknesses of the aspirant.
In every Lecture. Director Sir will provide conceptual understanding with around 800 Mindmaps.
We provide you the best and Comprehensive content which comes directly or indirectly in UPSC Exam.
Offline/Online Class
