SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir has declared cancer a “Notifiable Disease” across the Union Territory, making it mandatory for hospitals, laboratories, insurers and other healthcare institutions to report all diagnosed cancer cases to designated authorities for surveillance and policy planning.
According to a notification issued by the Health and Medical Education Department, under S.O. 146, the decision has been taken in exercise of powers under Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, in the interest of public health surveillance, epidemiological assessment, treatment planning and evidence-based health policy formulation.
The notification states that the provisions will apply to all government, autonomous, private, cooperative and institutional hospitals, including Medical College Hospitals, ESI hospitals, AIIMS, Railway Hospitals, Industrial Hospitals and Military Hospitals operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
The order also covers private clinics, nursing homes, hospices, AYUSH institutions providing cancer care, pathology and radiology laboratories, molecular diagnostic centres, insurance companies maintaining treatment or claims data related to cancer patients, and Registrar of Births and Deaths authorities maintaining cancer-related mortality statistics.
As per the notification, these institutions will be required to share relevant data relating to diagnosed cancer cases for validation and maintenance of the cancer registry system.
The government has designated the Director, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, as the overall Nodal Officer responsible for ensuring regular transmission of validated cancer data to the National Cancer Registry Programme maintained by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The notification further states that additional case-specific information may also be sought from reporting entities, wherever necessary, under intimation to the concerned Chief Medical Officer.
On data protection, the government said all information collected under the notification shall remain strictly confidential and will be used only for public health surveillance, epidemiological research, treatment planning, policy formulation and allied governmental purposes.
“Personally identifiable information shall not be disclosed except in accordance with law. Data shall be securely stored, processed and transmitted,” the notification reads.
The Director SKIMS, Principal Government Medical College Jammu, Director Health Services Jammu and Director Health Services Kashmir have been directed to ensure effective implementation of the notification across the Union Territory.
