Cancer is the 2nd biggest killer globally

NEW DELHI: Deaths in India from the disease have gone up by 60%. Cancer has emerged as the second-leading cause of death globally after cardiovascular diseases. Proportion of deaths due to cancer around the world increased from 12% in 1990 to 15% in 2013 while the number of new cases almost doubled in India during the period. In India, deaths from the disease have increased by 60%, according to the latest report 'Global Burden of Cancer-2013', released worldwide on Friday .

“Even if we adjust for the rise in population in India over this period, the new cancer cases have increased by 30% per unit population and deaths have risen by 10%,“ says Lalit Dandona, co-author of the study and Professor at the Public Health Foundation of India and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

In 2013, there were 14.9 million new cancer cases regis tered globally, whereas 8.2 million people died due to the disease. The report is based on a global study of 28 cancer groups in 188 countries by a consortium of international re searchers from University of Washington and Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The report suggests that new cases of virtually all types of cancer are rising in countries globally -regardless of income -but the death rates from cancer are falling in many countries primarily due to prevention and treatment. However, it says there is a threat of increasing incidence in developing countries due to ill-equipped health systems.

While incidence of breast cancer is highest in India as well as globally, most number of cancer deaths in India are caused due to stomach cancer, which is globally the second most common reason for death.