Hyderabad: Telangana govt on Tuesday issued an order declaring cancer as a notifiable disease. A centralised statewide portal to register cases was also launched. With this, any cancer diagnosed or registered at any healthcare facility across Telangana will have to be reported on the portal within one month.The need for a registry was highlighted in TOI recently, with health experts calling for the govt to declare cancer as a notifiable disease. They had warned that the missing registry might fuel the spread of the disease, making early detection a challenge.Until now, the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), MNJ Institute of Oncology (MNJIO) and Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) maintained a cancer registry limited to Hyderabad and surrounding areas. Officials said the new registry will make it mandatory for all govt, private and corporate hospitals, nursing homes, laboratories among others to report cases to the health department. The district medical and health officer (DMHO) will ensure that every case is reported.Dr Sadasivudu Gundeti, in-charge director and oncologist at MNJ hospital, said making cancer notifiable will create a robust system to track incidence, prevalence and mortality. “A centralised registry will help identify regional trends. This includes finding out from the data if one specific type of cancer is in a particular district, guide targeted screening, and provide data on diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. This will help in improving early detection, policy-making and resource allocation,” he added.The cancer care system is being structured as a hub-and-spoke model, with the MNJ hospital serving as the apex centre and district cancer care centres functioning as spokes. Officials said cases will be identified through multiple channels — women’s health clinics and non-communicable disease (NCD) initiatives.“These include screenings at Aarogya Mahila clinics, where women are examined for cervical and breast-related symptoms, as well as NCD surveys and questionnaires that help flag potential cases for referral. Once referred to govt general hospitals, diagnoses are confirmed and patients are brought into the formal treatment pathway,” said S Sangeetha Satyanarayana, commissioner, health and family welfare department.Under the new system, the first round of chemotherapy or initial medical management will be carried out at apex hospitals such as the MNJ or NIMS. Following this, patients who face travel challenges can opt to continue subsequent chemotherapy sessions at district cancer care centres.“This approach not only reduces the burden on tertiary hospitals but also improves accessibility and continuity of care for patients closer to their homes. Additionally, the system will generate a cancer atlas that maps types of cancers and their geographic distribution, enabling better research, targeted interventions and more efficient management,” added Satyanarayana.
