seeks Centre response – The Supreme Court on Friday (December 12, 2025) sought the Centre’s response on a plea filed by a retired AIIMS oncologist to declare cancer a nationwide notifiable disease. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued notice to the Union Health Ministry, state governments and Union Territories on the petition filed by Dr Anurag Srivastava, represented by lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal.

The petition highlighted that 90% of India’s population is currently not included in any systematic cancer surveillance mechanism. Mr Bansal submitted that only 17 out of 36 states and union territories have taken measures to declare cancer a notifiable disease under their public health laws. “This inconsistency has created a dangerous patchwork system, depriving the majority of the country’s population of the benefits of mandatory cancer case reporting, which is the cornerstone of effective disease surveillance, early detection and centralized data-driven policy making,” the lawyer argued.

The petition states that lack of notification has created a serious data black hole. “Without mandatory reporting, India’s National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP) operates with chronic and severe under-reporting,” it said. It underlined that systematic cancer data compilation only covers about 10% of the population.

The petitioner argued, “Approximately 90% of India’s population remains outside the scope of any systematic cancer data compilation and, by extension, outside the benefits of an integrated national cancer control programme. This lack of data results in underestimation of the national cancer burden, leading to poor policy planning, misallocation of scarce resources and inability to effectively implement, monitor and evaluate life-saving screening and early detection programmes. ” The widespread spread of dangerous misinformation was exacerbating the crisis.

The petition, in this context, mentions the promotion of ‘treatments’ like cow urine as a cure for cancer.