Jammu and Kashmir, like the other parts of the globe, observed World Cancer Day, an international day marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. Early detection and treatment is imperative to treat the disease and save the precious lives of the patients, who are diagnosed with the disease anywhere. But, the Jammu and Kashmir, unlike the other parts of the country do lack the special hospitals for the disease, which is a grave cause of concern. Although the government has on this day started the out-patient department (OPD) services at State Cancer Institute Jammu, the other services have not been started yet, forcing the people to visit outside hospitals for the treatment. What is more interesting is that the Valley too lacks the special cancer hospital, putting the burden on the other prominent hospitals and thus the rush of such patients has been increasing rapidly. As per the figures mentioned in a media report, from October-2016 to October-2022, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) has registered 27,727 cancer patients while the department of Nephrology has in the above mentioned period issued 64,504 Out Patient Department (OPD) cards. These figures are testimony to the facts that the number of such patients is increasing, and thus putting the responsibility on the shoulders of the administration to come up with a few more Cancer hospitals across the Union Territory so that the disease is detected and treated at an early stage to save the precious lives in Jammu & Kashmir.
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