Painting a worrisome trend, not only more Indians but younger ones are facing the challenge of cancer. Latest findings in a report by a reputed hospital group also show that the country is also set to become the world’s epicentre for the disease.
The fourth edition of the ‘Health of the Nation’ report by Apollo Group, which runs the largest hospital chain in India, paints a stark picture of escalating cancer cases. Not only are more people getting it, but at a young age too. Younger Indians, much younger in age than the global population, are not only facing this challenge but also grappling with other non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and depression.
The report shows a surprising trend indicating that the highest percentage of depression is found among individuals in the age group of 18 to 25 years, where one in five persons was reported to be depressed.
Stressing the need for “preventive health checkups”, Apollo’s vice chairperson Dr Preetha Reddy told News18: “We don’t want you to come to us after strokes or for cancer treatment or for chronic surgeries, but we want you to make prevention of such diseases your priority.”
While talking about the company’s latest focus on preventive health, she spoke about the ProHealth programme that enables nudges at regular intervals from health experts.
“It urges people to take stock of their health and prevent the onset of cancer and other non-communicable diseases,” Dr Reddy said.
She further said the central government has been “phenomenal” in its approach toward bringing revolutionary health policies, while mentioning the Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission.
“Ayushman Bharat will bring people on board with massive data points… All this can be churning data, which can throw trends about everything; movement in health and diseases, including the cues of disease X,” she said, adding that the Centre is putting the building blocks in place and this could be a game changer.
‘Cancer is growing in India’
The report, which uses data generated by the hospital chain including screening programmes in multiple remote areas, found that most common cancers in order of occurrence in India are breast, cervical and ovarian among women; and lung, mouth and prostate in men.
The median age for cancer diagnosis in India is lower than other countries. According to Apollo findings, the average age of diagnosis of breast cancer is 52 years, while it is 63 in the US and Europe. Similarly, for lung cancer, the average age of diagnosis in Apollo is 59 years, while it is around 70 in the west.
Unfortunately, despite these trends, cancer screening rates in India remain “very low”. According to the report, breast cancer screening in India is 1.9 per cent against 82 per cent in the US, 70 per cent in the UK and 23 per cent in China. Cervical cancer screening in India is 0.9 per cent, against 73 per cent in the US, 70 per cent in the UK and 43 per cent in China.
‘Obesity emerging as most common risk factor for NCDs’
Using data from multiple Apollo channels, including more than 1.3 million health checks at hospitals, the report found that the prevalence of obesity is rapidly growing. It is also increasingly emerging as the most common risk factor for all chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD).
The report further finds that three in four people undergoing health checks at Apollo were either obese or overweight and, in fact, obesity incidence has increased from 9 per cent in 2016 to 20 per cent in 2023.
Unfortunately, it also found hypertension incidence increased from 9 per cent in 2016 to 13 per cent in 2023. Commonly known as blood pressure, it found that two of three Indians are also moving toward high pressure, with 66 per cent in pre-hypertensive stage. Adding to this, the data also finds that one in 10 people have uncontrolled diabetes today and one in three are prediabetic.
“Traditionally, over 45 years of age is considered as a risk factor for pre-diabetes, but data reveals that one in five persons below the age of 45 had pre-diabetes,” the report stated.
Depression gets younger, more prevalent
From among 5,000 people screened for depression, Apollo’s data found that one in every 10 persons had depression. “What is worth reckoning is that the percentage of depression is highest amongst those in the category of 18 to 25 years, where one in five were depressed,” the report said.
It said 80 per cent of young adults aged between 18 and 30 and seniors above 65 years reported “significant” stress levels. And the byproduct of stress, the report claims, is increased risk of hypertension by 1.5 times and diabetes by two times in women and three times in men.
So, how can early movers benefit?
Describing it as a road to prevention, the report stressed that regular checkups help better manage health parameters. Those who got screenings more than three times in the last five years managed to significantly lower their HbA1C (diabetes marker), BP and BMI levels (obesity markers).
According to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, chairman of the research cell of the Indian Medical Association, Kerala, the report comes as no surprise. It goes with other peer-reviewed findings recently published for most ailments.
“With greater access to ultra-processed and high calorie, high fat, high salt foods, comfort foods and night-time TV snacking, hypertension and prediabetes are a given. Also, improved socioeconomic status allowing for such purchases, peer influences, attractive advertising and generalised lack of awareness about each one of these health parameters worsens the situation,” said Dr Jayadevan.
The health expert added that the increased detection of cancer has one more reason behind it, which is greater access to technology through which conditions can be diagnosed. This is unlike 50 years ago, where only a few centres offered such healthcare amenities and screening was not commonplace.
News18 attempted to contact several other doctors for their inputs on the findings, but many expressed reluctance to make a comment.
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