15.86 lakh cancer patients in 2018: govt tells LS
New Delhi: There were 15.86 lakh cancer cases in the country in 2018, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in Lok Sabha on Friday.
The minister said cancer is diagnosed and treated at various levels in the health care system and the treatment of cancer is by surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and palliative care.
"As per the National Cancer Registry Programme of Indian Council of Medical Research, the estimated incidence of cancer cases in 2018 was 15,86,571," he said during Question Hour.
Vardhan said while doctors with D.M. (Medical Oncology), M.Ch. (Surgical Oncology) and M.D. (Radiation Oncology) treat cancer patients in higher level tertiary care hospitals, other doctors such as general surgeons, gynaecologists, ENT surgeons etc. also provide treatment for cancer in government and private hospitals, depending on the type and site of cancer.
The minister said the information regarding cancer patients in government hospitals is not maintained centrally.
"Health being a state subject, the central government supplements the efforts of state governments in providing health care services including cancer care.
"The government of India is implementing the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) under the National Health Mission (NHM)," she said.
Vardhan said the objectives of NPCDCS include awareness generation for cancer prevention, screening, early detection and referral to an appropriate level institution for treatment.
He said 599 Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) clinics at District level and 3,274 NCD clinics at community health centre level have been set up under the programme.
To enhance the facilities for tertiary care of cancer, the central government is assisting 18 state cancer institutes and 20 tertiary care cancer centres under the strengthening of tertiary care for cancer scheme, he said.
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'Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane...': Tharoor takes dig at failed US-Iran talks in Pakistan
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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday took a swipe at the "failed" US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan with an Urdu couplet, saying only god knows now what will happen.
"Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane; Na woh mane, na ye mane (only god knows what will happen now as both sides did not agree)," Tharoor said on X, tagging a post-talks video clip of US Vice President J D Vance, who led the American delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad.
The United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal at their historic 21-hour talks in Pakistan, leaving the fate of a tenuous two-week ceasefire in doubt, with both sides attempting to hold each other responsible for the collapse of the negotiations.
अब क्या होगा, ये रब जाने
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 13, 2026
ना वो माने, ना ये माने https://t.co/DYrXpa7C8h
Vance said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Tehran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".
Trump said the US Navy will actively interdict any vessel in international waters found to have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiation team, said it is for the US to decide whether it can "earn our trust or not".
The Iranian foreign ministry, without elaborating, said the US side resorted to "excessive" and "illegal demands".
The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy marke
