Govt to establish national cancer registry

Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the National Institute of Health (Reorganization) Amendment Bill 2025, under which a national cancer registry will be established in Pakistan to understand the true burden of the disease and develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent it.

In a bid to reform the health sector, Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday approved the National Institute of Health (Reorganization) Amendment Bill 2025, which aims to restructure the institution and establish a comprehensive cancer database, according to a media report.

The president also approved the Anti-Dumping Duties Amendment Bill 2025 to provide legal clarity regarding the imposition of anti-dumping duties on projects funded by Chinese grants.

According to the NIH Bill passed by the National Assembly on August 12, 2025, there is an urgent need to establish a National Cancer Registry so that the true burden of the disease can be understood and a national action plan and effective strategy can be implemented for cancer prevention.

According to the Press Wing of the Presidency, this bill will make the structure and governance of the National Institute of Health more effective. The amendment aims to restructure the institution and improve its performance.

The statement said that the approval of the bill is an important step towards reforms and institutional improvements in the health sector.

The NIH Bill stated that the center will ensure the registry of cancer patients in a central repository so that the true burden of the disease can be understood and a national action plan can be implemented for its prevention.

The bill also mentions strategies to control the growing epidemic, collection of cancer case data and establishment of a patient database.

Through this bill, the government aims to promote awareness at the village and union council levels and work with other government and non-government organizations whose goal is to eliminate cancer.

The center will register cancer cases in various categories, including confirmed cancer cases, cancer deaths, cancer recoveries, cases pending in hospitals and demographic information (age, sex, location).

According to the bill, the personal data of a cancer patient will not be provided to any unauthorized person without his prior written permission.

The NIH bill states that cancer cases are increasing at an unprecedented rate worldwide.

According to the Global Cancer Observatory, the total number of cases in Pakistan in 2020 was 178,388 and these figures were provided by the Punjab Cancer Registry, which represents Lahore and parts of central Punjab.

The bill stated that considering the total population of 220 million, these figures are a serious under-representation of the true burden of cancer in Pakistan and several attempts to establish a national cancer registry in the past have failed due to lack of resources.

Anti-Dumping Duties Bill

President Asif Ali Zardari also approved the Anti-Dumping Duties Amendment Bill 2025.

According to the media wing of the Presidency, after approval, these duties will be effective from July 1, 2020. The bill was sent to the President after approval from the National Assembly and Senate.

The statement said that the bill was approved for the purpose of providing legal clarity on the imposition of anti-dumping duties on Chinese-funded projects.

This decision was taken during the Gwadar Projects Progress Review Meeting in October 2022.