Supreme Court on Cancer as a Notifiable Disease

On 11th August 2026, the Supreme Court asked the remaining 19 States and Union Territories to consider declaring cancer a “notifiable disease” to facilitate early detection, improve disease surveillance and ensure proper care of patients.

Key Points

Notifiable Disease: Declaring cancer as a notifiable disease would require cases to be officially reported to health authorities, helping improve cancer surveillance and early detection.
States and UTs: Of the 36 States and UTs, 17 have already notified cancer as a notifiable disease.
PIL: The direction came during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a nationwide declaration of cancer as a notifiable disease.
Health as State Subject: The Centre informed the Court that health is a State subject and noted that 17 States had already notified cancer.