The National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) recommends screening for oral, cervical, and breast cancers at PHC level. Which combination of screening tests is used for these three cancers respectively?

• A Oral brush cytology; Pap smear only; mammography
• B Toluidine blue test; colposcopy; ultrasound
• C HPV DNA testing; colposcopy; MRI
• D Visual inspection with oral cavity; VIA/VILI; clinical breast examination ✓

Explanation

Under NPCDCS at the primary health care level in India: (1) Oral cancer is screened using visual inspection of the oral cavity by an ASHA/ANM; (2) Cervical cancer by Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) or Lugol's Iodine (VILI), which are low-cost, no-laboratory methods appropriate for resource-limited settings; (3) Breast cancer by Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) by trained health workers. Colposcopy, mammography, and molecular tests are referral-level investigations, not PHC-level screening tools under this programme.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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