The Odisha government has notified cancer as a reportable disease, requiring clinics and hospitals to report new cancer patients to the state government as part of efforts to offer patients early treatment and assess the state’s cancer burden.

A government notification said the geographic distribution patterns and prevalence estimates of cancer were important to mobilise resources for prevention and control and reduce mortality.

“The government, after due consideration of the matter, has also found it imperative that all diagnosed cancer... should be reported to the appropriate authority for early detection and treatment of disease,” the notification said.

The government has asked all persons concerned in hospitals (private or public), pathological, clinical and radiological labs, institutions imparting medical education and providing diagnostic treatment, palliative care and any other healthcare-related facilities to mandatorily report diagnosed cancer cases. All cases should be reported within two weeks from the date of diagnosis.

“The Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) has started activities in Khordha district from October 15 from the NISER (National Institute of Science Education and Research) Bhubaneswar campus with support from the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, and the Department of Atomic Energy,” the government notification said.

A PET-CT scan facility was last week set up at Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer in Cuttack.

“The PET-CT scan is considered one of the central pillars in the management of cancer. The PET-CT scan facility is a first of its kind in a state government hospital,” chief minister Naveen Patnaik said while inaugurating the facility last Thursday.