India will be the only country in the world to screen its entire 125 crore population for prevention of cancer and some other non–communicable diseases in the next five years, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Azad said that the government has already launched a pilot project across 100 districts in 21 states for prevention and control of cancer, cardio–vascular diseases, stroke, and diabetes.

"India will be the first country that will screen its entire population for these diseases. The equipment for screening will be provided by the Union Health Ministry besides chemotherapy of 100 patients per district at a cost of Rs 100,000," he said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India currently has 27 lakh cancer patients while 11 lakh new cancer cases are reported every year, reports IANS.