50yearplus men are asked to take the prostatespecific antigen blood test but a decade after the test became popular the medical fraternity has realized that it can detect very small cancers that take up to a decade or more to actually become a threat to life so if a cancer is detected in a 75yearold do we need to put him through a toxic cancer treatment he asked dr abhay shukla of ngo cehat centre for enquiry into health and allied themes finds the tax sop irrational india should invest in mass screening programmes for diseases such as diabetes and hypertension instead the middle classes are being encouraged to spend on an irrational idea of preventive health checks who needs yearly health checkups asked shukla malpani felt that preventive tests had become popular only because they are profitable for hospitals but dr arun bal of acash association for consumers action on safety health feels preventive health checks do have a role in the field of medicine it should be available to all and not just to the hightax paying corporate types india has 62 million patients with diabetes who need constant monitoring and checks 80 of indians live in villages that dont have standardized laboratories many go to public hospitals said bal adding that these are the areas that the government needs to look at before approving such a move pros cons pros for diseases such as cancer early diagnosis can mean complete cure problems with heart liver kidney and vitamin deficiencies can be found early cons false positive results anxiety stress more tests procedures and expenditure