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Uneven burden
Down To Earth
|October 01, 2025
Cancer incidence in India reveals gendered disparities, regional hotspots and rising rural risks
WOMEN ACCOUNTED for more than half of the over 708,000 cancer cases recorded in India in 2015-19.
In contrast, 55 per cent of the 200,000 cancer deaths recorded during this period were among men. While women in Hyderabad account for the most breast cancer cases, men in Srinagar record the most lung cancer cases. These trends from the latest analysis on cancer in India pose questions on the risks the disease poses across genders, regions and socioeconomic areas.
Overall, a person living in the country faces an 11 per cent lifetime risk of developing cancer, says the study published in JAMA Network Open on August 20 by the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) Investigator Group, a collaborative body of scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR'S) National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research in Bengaluru and other regional centres. The researchers use data from 43 population-based cancer registries (PCBRS) across India, covering about 18 per cent of the total population.
The analysis also says that in 2024, the PCBRS registered 1.56 million cases, with both men and women reporting over 780,000 new cases each. However, the crude incidence rate (CIR) among men was 107.4, marginally lower than the 113.3 CIR among women. CIR is the number of new cases in a specified population per year, usually expressed as the number of cases per 100,000 population at risk. A similar trend was observed in previous years too. A 2020 study by NCRP, published in the journal JCO Global Oncology with data from 28 PCBRS, notes a crude rate (cases per 100,000 population) of 94.1 among men and 103.6 among women for all types of cancer.
Research points to several reasons for women in India facing a higher cancer risk. A 2022 study published in the journal
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Down To Earth
Collective denial
A decade on from the Paris Agreement, countries are planning more fossil fuel production than before, putting global climate ambitions at increasing risk
4 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
BUILT TO BINGE
Over the past few decades, food companies have exploited basic human instincts to peddle ultra-processed products. Engineered to hijack the brain's reward system, these foods are silently fuelling a new addiction epidemic, and driving rising rates of obesity and chronic diseases. Urgent policy action is needed to reclaim control over our food environment.
19 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Another farmer quits
THIS DUSSEHRA, Pitabasha did not go for the customary sighting of the Indian Roller, or tiha, as it is called in Odia. The bird is believed to grant wishes, and every year thousands of people flock to farms, fields and forests hoping to glimpse it and make a wish. But the 30-year-old farmer from Matupali village in Odisha stayed back. From that day, he also stopped calling himself a farmer.
2 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
What the H-1B visa angst reveals about India
It is odd that India strenuously promotes the exodus of its tech talent while failing to foster innovation at home
4 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
REDUCED TO INSIGNIFICANCE
On October 12, the Right to Information (RTI) Act completed 20 years. Activists who monitor the Act, and former information commissioners, say that amendments by successive governments have rendered the law toothless. As per Central Information Commission's latest annual report (2023-24), the number of RTI applications rejected in the year was over 67,615—the highest ever. BHAGIRATH curates a conversation on what went wrong with the law that was sought to bring transparency and accountability in governance.
14 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
'Depopulation would mean fewer people contributing to advancement of knowledge'
Trends show that in a few decades, global population will begin to shrink. Once depopulation starts, no one knows how to stop it in a sustained way, write DEAN SPEARS and MICHAEL GERUSO, associate professors of economics, University of Texas at Austin, US, in their recent book, After the Spike. The authors, who are also economic demographers, argue that population decline will be detrimental to global progress and that a smaller population would not necessarily be better for the environment. In an interview with ADITYA MISRA, they say that the time to talk about depopulation is now because the search for a solution could take decades. Excerpts:
5 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Rebirth of Sukapaika
A cardiologist revives a dying river in Odisha with help from 425 riparian villages
2 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Monsoon withdrawal stalls after early start
AFTER UNLEASHING unusually heavy spells of rain across northwest India, the southwest monsoon began withdrawing three days earlier than normal, on September 14.
1 min
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Despair follows deluge
As floodwaters recede in Punjab, communities are left with ruined fields, lost livelihoods and an uncertain future. VIVEK MISHRA travels through the seven flood-hit districts to gauge the scale of the crisis.
6 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Bone dry to soaking wet
Farmers in Marathwada were ill-prepared for the intense rainfall that hit the perennially water-starved region.
4 mins
October 16, 2025
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