Cancer 13 times more in Bhopal gas tragedy survivors than unexposed population

The rate of cancer occurrence is about 13 times more among the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal as compared to that in a matched unexposed population

Bhopal: The rate of cancer occurrence is about 13 times more among the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal as compared to that in a matched unexposed population.

Addressing a Press Conference on the occasion of the World Cancer Day, the Sambhavna Trust Clinic in Bhopal today also presented data about the rate of cancer phenomenon which showed that gas-exposed men were more vulnerable to cancer than gas-exposed women. It is also seen that the rates of blood, lung and esophageal cancers are highest in the gas exposed population.

It may be mentioned here that established in 1996, the Sambhavna Trust Clinic provides free medical care to survivors of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal.

RadhelalNapit, member of the Community Health Survey Unit of the Clinic said: “We have collected information on health status of 21276 gas exposed and 25528 unexposed individuals who have similar income and education. The data on cancer is from all those who were diagnosed with cancer between 1992 and 2012. We have copies of almost all medical records of each individual diagnosed with cancer”, he stated.

“Our data shows that, while the rate of cancer is 1569.84 per 100, 000 in the gas exposed population, it is 117.52 per 100, 000 in the unexposed population. The cancer rate is 14.92 times higher among gas exposed men, while it is 12.22 times higher among gas-exposed women”, said Farhat Jahan who is part of the team that visited house to house to collect these and other information.

Chandrasekhar Sahu, another member of the survey team, pointed out that some cancers were more prevalent among the survivors of the Union Carbide disaster. “We find that the rates of blood cancers are 21.6 times more in the gas exposed population compared to that in an unexposed population. Likewise, the rates of lung and esophageal cancers are 28.78 and 33.86 times more respectively compared to that in an unexposed population.”

Another team member Santosh Kshatriya stated that data on gas-exposed individuals were collected from residents of Jaiprakash Nagar, Kainchi Chhola, Qaziq Camp and other areas within 3 kilometers of the Union Carbide factory, while information on unexposed individuals was obtained from residents of Anna Nagar, Bheem Nagar and Vallabh Nagar that are more than 8 kilometers from the Union Carbide factory.

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