The cancer epidemic

More and more people may suffer from cancer in the next ten years if steps are not taken to check it, says Dr. K.A. Dinshaw, a noted radiation cancer specialist. Delivering the fifth Padmashree Dr. S.P. Mukherjee Memorial Lecture in Indore, Dr. Dinshaw, Director of the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital in Mumbai, said that “young adults were most susceptible to the dreaded disease.” Modern urban lifestyle was held responsible for the increase in the risk for the disease. With more young people chewing tobacco, smoking and consuming liquor, and the government not being able to ban the same, the chances of the disease being widespread are more than ever before. It is no longer a disease of the affluent countries and as it occurs widely in the developing ones also. She said that less than five percent of the health budget was spent on cancer treatment. She also said that there is not much difference in the number of men and women suffering from the disease.