Feasibility of undertaking cancer incidence studies in rural areas of India

K Jayant; G G Potdar; J C Paymaster; L D Sanghvi; M V Sirsat; P Gangadharan; D J Jussawalla

. 1976;54(1):11–18.

Feasibility of undertaking cancer incidence studies in rural areas of India

K Jayant, G G Potdar, J C Paymaster, L D Sanghvi, M V Sirsat, P Gangadharan, D J Jussawalla

PMCID: PMC2366461 PMID: 1087585

Abstract

In the rural areas of developing countries, modern medical facilities are well below optimum levels and death registration is not mandatory. In India, as a result of such a situation, very few studies have been undertaken on the incidence of cancer in the rural population, though 80% of the people live in villages. The paper presents cancer incidence rates observed in a rural area of India by means of a method involving the use of paramedical personnel for initial screening, to minimize the cost. A statistical evaluation of the results shows that the method can be used for registering common sites of cancer in an area where conventional cancer registration methods are not applicable.