India reports two lakh new cancer patients every year, of which 40 percent suffered from mouth and throat cancer, while women with breast cancer accounted for 25-30 percent, said Dr. Manoj Pandey, President of the Association of Surgeons of India which is holding its Annual Convention in the Taj city.

Pandey said health conditions in India will improve only when district hospitals and primary health centres acquired the capacity and capability to carry out major surgeries of hernia or stones. The surgeons discussed the intricacies of advanced procedures and operational skills acquired through the use of latest robotic and laproscopic instruments.

Dr. Surendra Pathak, the Organising Secretary of the Association, said: "We have had very useful scientific sessions over the last three days, with a series of workshops and lectures. The convention has been organised by the UP Chapter in association with the SN Medical College Agra."

Surgeons who participated in the programmes said it was possible to operate through the navel by using advanced techniques and instruments. Dr. Rajiv Sinha of Jhansi said women usually resisted laproscopic operations. "In 2008, I began operating using the navel and so far have done 4,000 such operations."

The key concern was the high incidence of cancer, which in the primary stages could be controlled through laproscopic surgery. A lack of trained cancer surgeons results in 50 percent of deaths.