Tamil Nadu to Screen Women for NCDs Through Mobile Medical Units

The Tamil Nadu Cancer Registry Project has projected nearly one lakh cancer cases in 2025, with more than half detected in advanced stages, prompting the state to expand community-level screening for women.

The Tamil Nadu government will start screening women for non-communicable diseases using mobile medical units from next week, beginning with a pilot in Kancheepuram district.

The initiative targets women aged 30 and above and covers cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, heart, liver, and kidney diseases as part of a focused women’s health drive.

Health minister MA Subramanian said each vehicle will have a staff nurse, radiographer, and multi-purpose health worker, who will coordinate with laboratories and doctors so that test reports are returned to patients in less than a day. The 10-minute screening package will include counselling, recording of medical history, blood tests, and ECG.

The mobile units are being deployed under the Women’s Wellness on Wheels programme and are equipped with mammogram facilities and AI-enabled ECG systems to support timely detection of breast cancer and cardiac conditions

As per reports, the service will be piloted in Kancheepuram, and that each district will soon receive one vehicle dedicated to the programme.

The decision follows data from the Tamil Nadu Cancer Registry Project, which estimated around 1,00,097 cancer cases in 2025, nearly 30 percent higher than the 76,968 cases recorded in 2021.

Clinicians at the state-run Arignar Anna Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Kancheepuram said that less than 5 percent of admitted patients are in precancerous or stage one, while more than 50 percent are diagnosed in stage three or four, when disease progression is advanced and survival for some cancers falls below 30 percent.

Officials from the National Health Mission said previous attempts to increase screening by inviting women to visit health centres had limited response, with feedback indicating stigma, fear of screening and loss of wages as key barriers.

The state has therefore decided to take high-end screening services closer to communities through mobile units, while continuing invitation-based programmes in health facilities.

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