Should we tell Nagas to stop eating smoked meat?
Nagaland has the highest incidence rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in India. Though mouth cancers are common in India, NPC is rare except among the specific ethnic groups like the Nagas. The incidence rate of 4.3 per 1, 00,000 population in Nagaland falls under the intermediate category while the highest incidence rates are found in southern China (10-20 in males and 5-10 in females). In most parts of the world, the incidence is less tha n 1 per 1, 00,000 population. Though this is a serious health concern for the Nagas, it doesn’t get sufficient attention in the national scene, similar to its political struggle. There has been a lot of research done in China and South East Asia but Nagaland gets mentioned only on a passing note. As far as I know, apart from hospital statistics, there are only two researches done in Nagaland (One by P.K Chelleng et al, titled 'Risk factors for cancer Nasopharynx: A case-control study from Nagaland, India'; published in National Medical J...