Development of an India-Specific Cancer Web Portal: An Educational Tool for Cancer Awareness and Community Engagement

Dissemination of adequate information about cancer is a prerequisite for focused cancer control efforts. This study was aimed at assessing the content validity of the existing web-based cancer awareness resources and using these inputs to create an innovative India-specific website for cancer prevention. A gap analysis of 65 existing websites on various types of cancer was carried out. The websites were graded for their content validity on a scale of 1 (good for minimally educated individual) to 6 (for health professionals only) and for external validity for India on a scale of 1 (not valid) to 3 (good validity). The websites were analysed for their layout, user friendliness, ease of navigation and complexity of the language. None of the 65 websites provided comprehensive information on the prevalent cancers in India. Majority (60%) of the websites had a score of 3 in content validity while external validity scored at 2 for 78.5% websites. In the view of the identified gaps, a comprehensive India-specific cancer website ‘India Against Cancer” was developed to provide basic information on cancer to the public with an intent to promote cancer awareness. ‘India Against Cancer’ is the first comprehensive India-specific website which is user friendly and provides authentic peer-reviewed information on prevalent cancers in India in a simple language. Wider use of this educational tool can potentially assist in improving cancer awareness and provide impetus to the population-based cancer screening program currently in the process of being rolled out in the country.