Cancer cases on rise- Need to address issue

The deadly Covid-19 pandemic may have provided sigh of relief to the people all across the globe, but Kashmir has been grappling with another serious issue as a disturbing report has come to fore, showing a drastic increase in the number of cancer patients in the first three months of the ongoing year—2022. According to the media reports, SKIMS Soura has received 1110 cancer cases in the first three months (Jan 1 to March 31) of 2022, highest in recent times, which is a cause of concern for one and all. It has also come to the fore that lung cancer was found prominent among men while breast cancer was seen on the rise among the women. It is believed that there are multiple factors that lead to the serious disease, which include ageing population, sedentary lifestyle, use of tobacco products, unhealthy diet and air pollution. What all can be done at this juncture to ensure that such unhealthy habits must be stopped forthwith. Therefore, in order to put an end to these unhealthy habits, there is a need to launch a campaign at all levels to make the people aware about the ramifications of these unhealthy habits, which would help in declining the number of cancer cases in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, the government should also take steps to address the issue of air pollution and other things, which is adding to the number of cancer cases in the Union Territory. The administration must not delay the process to ensure that the rising numbers are declined at the shortest possible time.