Karnataka government developed an exclusive software to monitor the implementation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). The software was developed only to monitor and control the growing number of oral cancer cases in the state which is estimated at 12.5 per cent among women and 11.2 per cent among men compared to all cancers. The state government has also officially notified oral cancer a major killer disease and is now the third state in the country to do so after Punjab and West Bengal.

All cases will now need to be registered with Karnataka Cancer Control Committee. The notification is applicable to all medical centres coming under industries, railways, civil, army and other central state government facilities including Ayurvedic and Unani healthcare providers.

The additional district commissioner and district health officer, family welfare officer are responsible to make the medical institutions to abide by this notification. If failure to comply with the rules is observed by the Committee, then the doctor and hospital would be liable for the disciplinary action as decided.

The Home Department, with the help of National Informatics Centre (NIC) Karnataka state unit, has developed this state-of-art software to monitor COTPA implementation by various departments throughout the state, Karnataka’s health and family welfare minister U T Khader told Pharmabiz.

“The key objective is to keep a tab on the rise of the dreaded disease and ensure preventive check-ups at intermittent phases in an effort to bring down cost of care,” he added.

According to the Kidwai hospital-based cancer registry, oral cancer is high among women, with Kolar has a high percentage of  this condition. Currently, the state’s government and private hospitals maintain their own registries. These include government owned Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology and India’s largest oncology chain of 27 centres HealthCare Global Enterprises (HCG).

The state government which officially notified the cancer noted that it would facilitate in better planning of treatment, prevention policies and research on cancer. With the National Cancer Registry indicating that one in 12 people in Karnataka may be vulnerable to develop cancer. This for the state government is a major concern in the society.

The move is expected to provide a clear picture of the magnitude of the problem, stated health minister Khader adding that there was broad based agenda on the cards to implement this notification, he added.

With the state government notifying cancer, all the hospitals across the state both government and private will have now need to gear up to report any case of cancer that they come across within a period not exceeding one week from the date of diagnosis, said oncologists from Apollo Hospital.