Lok Sabha Question No. 4372 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-19
Subject: Cancer Cases due to Arsenic in Ground Water
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Meenakashi Lekhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4372 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 TH JULY, 2019

## CANCER CASES DUE TO ARSENIC IN GROUND WA TER

## 4372. SHRIMATI MEENAKASHI LEKHI:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  arsenic  contamination  of  ground  water  in  North regions of India and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps being taken to raise awareness about this issue;
- (c) whether the number of cancer cases reported from such areas have seen an increase d the last five years;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the corrective measures being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) : As  per  information  received  from  Department  of  Drinking  Water  & Sanitation,  the number of Arsenic affected rural h abitations in Northern regions are as under :
- (b) : Provision of safe drinking water and health services falls within the remit of the State/UT Governments. However, the Government of India has taken steps both for facilitating availa bility of safe drinking water and also for ensuring effective s urveillance of outbreaks of water borne diseases and their prevention and management.

|   S. No. | State         |   Arsenic Affected Habitations |
|----------|---------------|--------------------------------|
|        1 | Punjab        |                            660 |
|        2 | Uttar Pradesh |                            650 |

The  Ministry of  Drinking  Water  &  Sanitation  have  advised all  States  to  commission surface water based piped water supply schemes in all habitations as a long term sust solution. However, since these pr ojects have a long gestation period (say 3 - 5 years) and the rural people cannot be put to the risk of consuming contaminated water, all States have als advised to install community water purification plants. This has been done with the obje providing 8 - 10 litres of safe water per capita per day for drinking and cooking purposes onl

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued guidelines for 'Detection, Prevention & Management of Arsenicosis in India' to the Arsenic affected States .StateGovernments are also  advised to strengthen  District/ Community  Health  Centre (CHC)  infrastructure for  early diagnosis,  management  and  treatment  of  Arsenic  affected  cases and  for  this  purpose  seek necessary  support in  the  State Program  Implementation  Plans ( PIPs) submittedunder the National Health Mission ( NHM ) .

(c) & (d) : A slight increasing trend has been noticed in the Cancer cases in the Stat Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The details of reported number of incidence of C ancer case s in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh during the last five years are as under:

| Year   | State   | State         |
|--------|---------|---------------|
|        | Punjab  | Uttar Pradesh |
| 2014   | 30, 002 | 2,22,615      |
| 2015   | 31, 214 | 2, 33, 659    |
| 2016   | 32, 474 | 2, 45, 231    |
| 2017   | 33, 781 | 2, 57, 353    |
| 2018   | 35, 137 | 2, 70, 053    |

(e) : The treatment of Cancer in many States and Central Government institutions is free for BPL patients and subsidized for others. The Central Government supplements the efforts o State Gove rnments to prevent and control C ancer and to provide affordable and accessible care. Some of the steps taken by Central Government are as follows:

- (i) The National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascula Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) isimplemented under theNational Health Mission (NHM) for  interventions  upto  the  district  level  incl udes  awareness  generation  for  Cancer prevention,  screening,  early  detection  and  referral  to  an  appropriate  level  instit treatment.  For  Cancer,  the  focus  is  on  three  Cancers , namely,  B reast Cancer,  C ervical Cancer and O ral Cancer .
- (ii)To  enhance  the f acilities  for  tertiary  care  of  C ancer, the  Central  Government  is implementing Tertiary Care Cancer Centre Scheme to support setting up of State Can Institutes (SCI) and Tertiary Care Cancer Centres (TCCC) in different parts of the country.
- (iii) Oncology in its various aspect s has focus in new ly established AIIMS and many upgraded institutions under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY).
- (iv)National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Jhajjar (Haryana) has been set up.
- (v) Setting up of s econd campus of Chittaranjan Natio nal Cancer Institute, Kolkata has been approved.
- (vi)The Government is providing financial assistance to patients living below poverty li life threatening diseases under the schemes such as Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN), He Minister's  Cancer  Patient  Fund  (HMCPF)  and  Health  Minister's  Discretionary  Grant (HMDG).
- (vii) Affordable  Medicines  and  Reliable  Implants  for  Treatment  (AMRIT)  Deendayal  outlets have been opened at 158 Institutions/Hospitals with an objective to make available C and Cardiovascul ar Diseases drugs and implants at discounted prices to the patients. Aushadhi stores are set up by Department of Pharmaceuticals to provide generic drug affordable prices.
- (viii) Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY) provides for benefit coverage of Rs. 5,00,000/ -to over more than 10 crore beneficiary families, giving cashless access to services for the beneficiary at the point of service in empanelled hospitals (both pu private) across India. More than 1350 medical packages have been fina lized by a  expert committee. The treatment of Cancer is also included under PMJAY.
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