Johnson & Johnson India has expanded the second phase of its ‘India Detects to Defeat’ initiative, focusing on early detection and awareness of lung cancer through regionally accessible material.
The company has introduced an illustrated booklet in five additional languages—Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. The material will be distributed at select healthcare clinics and made available digitally through QR codes. The campaign builds on its earlier phase, which included a collaboration with Amar Chitra Katha to create simplified, illustrated health content.
The initiative comes amid a rising burden of lung cancer in India. Incidence is projected to increase from 63,708 cases in 2015 to 81,219 by 2025. Smoking and worsening air pollution are cited as key contributing factors.
Globally, lung cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. In India, it is the fourth most common cancer, with around 81,000 new cases and nearly 75,000 deaths annually. Five-year survival rates remain low—between 3.7% and 17%—largely due to late-stage diagnosis.
A majority of cases (85–90%) are classified as Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Around 25–30% of Indian patients are estimated to have EGFR mutations, highlighting the need for molecular testing at diagnosis to guide treatment decisions.
Pushkar Kulkarni, General Manager, Johnson & Johnson India & South Asia operations, said the campaign’s first phase reached over 786 million people and around 6,500 healthcare providers. He added that the expanded language rollout aims to improve early recognition of symptoms and timely medical intervention.
Gayathri Chandrasekhar, Editor-in-Chief at Amar Chitra Katha, said the initiative uses storytelling to simplify complex health information and encourage conversations around early detection.
Dr Sewanti Limaye, Director of Medical & Precision Oncology at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, said early detection remains key to improving outcomes in lung cancer, and wider access to clear, actionable information could help shift diagnosis to earlier stages.
