The North East has the highest number of cancer cases in the country and Meghalaya ranks below Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur in the region, the Meghalaya Assembly was informed today.
People are much aware of cancer now and are coming forward for detection, timely treatment and this has led to the increase in cancer cases being registered, Health Minister A L Hek said.
"According to the population based cancer registry, North East has the highest number of cancer cases and Meghalaya is in number 4 after Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur," Hek said while replying to a motion moved by Congress MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh.
Since 2012, 7207 cancer patients have registered with the cancer department of the Shillong Civil Hospital here, the minister said.
He said a total of 1994 cancer patients have availed insurance cover worth over Rs 1.2 crore under the Meghalaya Health Insurance scheme launched in three phases since 2012.