Cancer behind 70% deaths in India’s atomic energy hubs
Cancer caused almost 70% of the 3,887 health-related deaths in the atomic energy hubs in India over the last 20 years. In all, 2,600 succumbed to cancer in 19 centres between 1995 and 2014.
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), under the Department of Atomic Energy, had another shocking revelation: 255 employees took their own lives while in harness in the same period, meaning an average of almost one every month over 20 years. Investigations showed they were mostly over prolonged illness or family problems.
Cancer is among the top ten killers in India, and accounts for around 7% of the roughly 9.5 million annual deaths, as has been estimated by the Centre’s ongoing Million Deaths Study.
Report from the Times of India