Cancer Rates 13 Times Higher Near Union Carbide Site; Sambhavna Trust

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Data presented by Sambhavna Trust Clinic shows that cancer rates among survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster are about 13 times higher than in a comparable unexposed population.

The data also indicates that gas-exposed men are more vulnerable than women, and that blood, lung, and oesophageal cancers are particularly prevalent in the exposed population. Trust members shared the findings with media on World Cancer Day, Wednesday.

RadhelalNapit, from the Clinic’s Community Health Survey Unit, said, “We collected health information from 21,276 gas-exposed people and 25,528 unexposed individuals with similar income and education. Cancer data covers diagnoses from 1992 to 2012, and we have medical records for nearly all cases.”

Farhat Jahan, part of the house-to-house survey team, said, “Cancer rates in the gas-exposed population are 1,569.84 per 100,000, compared to 117.52 per 100,000 in the unexposed group. Rates are 14.92 times higher in men and 12.22 times higher in women.”

Chandrasekhar Sahu, another survey member, added that specific cancers are dramatically higher among survivors. “Blood cancers are 21.6 times more, lung cancers 28.78 times, and oesophageal cancers 33.86 times higher compared to unexposed populations.”

Santosh Kshatriya, also from the team, said data on gas-exposed individuals came from residents within 3 km of the Union Carbide factory—including Jaiprakash Nagar, KainchiChhola, and QaziCamp—while unexposed people were from areas over 8 km away, such as Anna Nagar, Bheem Nagar, and Vallabh Nagar.