The Odisha State Population Based Cancer Registry (OSPBCR) is a state-wide initiative of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Odisha, established with technical support from Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai and NISER, Jatni, Odisha. The project aims to build a comprehensive and scientifically robust system for documenting cancer incidence and mortality across the entire state, thereby strengthening cancer control planning, public-health decision-making, and cancer research in Odisha.
The registry is designed to cover all 30 districts of Odisha, representing a population of roughly 45–46 million. It is funded by the Government of Odisha, while the technical leadership is provided by Prof. Atul Budukh, Professor of Epidemiology at the Centre for Cancer Epidemiology, ACTREC-TMC, Mumbai. NISER is an institutional technical partner, and I serve as a co-investigator in this project.
Reliable population-based cancer registries are essential for understanding the true burden and pattern of cancer in a community. They provide the evidence base for cancer control programmes, screening and early-detection strategies, allocation of treatment resources, and future public-health planning. The Odisha state-wide registry builds on the earlier registry work in Khordha and Mayurbhanj and expands this effort to cover the entire state.
Khordha and Mayurbhanj already had population-based cancer registries supported by TMC. Together they covered about 11.4% of Odisha’s population. The new state-wide initiative extends cancer registration to the remaining districts so that the registry represents the full burden of cancer across Odisha.
By systematically collecting and analysing cancer incidence and mortality data, the registry will support evidence-based health policy, district-level planning, prioritisation of resources, and research aimed at improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment outcomes.
The Odisha State PBCR is funded by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Odisha. The technical principal investigator is Prof. Atul Budukh, Professor of Epidemiology, Centre for Cancer Epidemiology, ACTREC-TMC, Mumbai. The project involves multiple stakeholders from the Government of Odisha, Tata Memorial Centre, and NISER, Jatni.
I am a co-investigator on this project from NISER, where I serve as Head of the Centre for Medical and Radiation Physics. The Odisha state proposal identifies NISER as one of the technical support institutions and lists me among the co-investigators associated with the state-wide registry effort.
The state-wide registry is intended to cover the entire state of Odisha, including all 30 districts, with a total population of approximately 46 million. The scale of this effort makes it one of the most important public-health data initiatives in cancer epidemiology in the state.
The implementation plan includes staff recruitment by TMC after fund transfer, training of recruited staff, procurement of servers and laptops, creation of a clinical board for difficult ICD-O-3 coding decisions, training of hospital medical-records staff, training of state officials, and phased statewide data collection and quality control. The plan envisages data collection from all districts beginning in 2026, followed by interim and final reporting and continuous review through 2031.
NISER is part of the technical support structure of the project. The work plan specifically mentions deputation of state officials for cancer-registry training at NISER Jatni in batches, underscoring the institute’s role as a training and coordination hub in Odisha.
The project is funded by the Government of Odisha. The technical-support proposal was prepared for five years with a total budget of about Rs. 6.42 crore. The first-year requirement was estimated at about Rs. 1.56 crore, covering salaries, transport, equipment, training, printing, and contingency support. The project is planned as a continuous effort, depending on the availability of funding.
The statewide registry effort is built on earlier outreach and registry experience in Odisha, especially in Khordha district. The Khordha population-based cancer registry and associated early-detection activities demonstrated the feasibility of training field staff, conducting case verification, engaging district-level health systems, and generating district-specific cancer burden data. These experiences now provide the operational foundation for scaling registry activities to the entire state.
The Khordha registry covered a district population of around 2.5 million and showed that a combination of field investigation, hospital linkages, death-record review, and regular training could generate meaningful data on cancer incidence and mortality patterns in Odisha.
Staff of the Khordha PBCR, along with project teams and district medical officers, were trained at NISER by faculty from the Centre for Cancer Epidemiology, TMC. This established a model for capacity building that is now relevant for the state-wide expansion.
The Odisha State Population Based Cancer Registry represents an important step in building a durable evidence base for cancer control in the state. By integrating Government of Odisha support, technical leadership from ACTREC-TMC, and institutional participation from NISER, the project will help generate the data needed for better policy, better healthcare planning, and stronger cancer research. It is also an important example of how academic institutions, public-health agencies, and cancer centres can work together to address a major societal challenge.