Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Nov 30 : In a worrisome trend, Kashmir’s leading tertiary care hospital, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura, has registered over 4,000 cases of cancer this year so far, while over 44,000 have been registered at the institute since 2014.
According to details available with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), 4,095 new cancer registrations have been done at SKIMS Soura till September this year. The institute has registered 44,112 cases of cancer from 2014 until September 2023.
As per details, 3,940 cases were registered in 2014, followed by 4,417 in 2015, 4,320 in 2016, 4,352 in 2017, 4,816 in 2018, 4,337 in 2019, 3,814 in 2020, 4,727 in 2021, 5,294 in 2022, and 4,095 in the ongoing year till September.
Officials said that cancer cases have shown a steep rise in Kashmir, adding that in men, lung cancer is the most prominent one, while women are fast falling prey to breast cancer.
“Smoking is one of the primary reasons for cancer among males, besides family history, obesity, and age, among other factors, responsible for the cancer cases,” they said, adding that early detection of the disease helps provide timely treatment, which ultimately can help save precious lives.
Cancer is a multi-dimensional disease and the risk factors, inter alia, include an ageing population, sedentary lifestyle, use of tobacco products, unhealthy diet, and air pollution, doctors said. They urged patients having symptoms of cancer to come forward, as early treatment can prevent the disease from spreading further and then help save a life.
Doctors further said that quality treatment is available as far as Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy are concerned, besides the continuous enhancement of infrastructure for quality patient care.
According to data from the Union Health Ministry, 51,577 cases of cancer were reported in J&K in the last four years (2019-2022), with 12,396 in 2019, 12,726 cases in 2020, 13,060 cases in 2021, and 13,395 cases in 2022.
A total of 35,623 people in J&K died of cancer between 2018 and 2022, with 6,824 cancer patients reported to have died in 2018, 7,003 deaths reported in 2019, 7,189 deaths reported in 2020, 7,211 deaths reported in 2021, and 7,396 cancer patient fatalities reported in 2022.
Pertinently, a 2012 study of SKIMS attributed the rising cancer incidence to “dietary practices and lifestyle choices” as well as the intake of foods with high salt content—(KNO)
