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| Kashmir faces new threat in Cancer | | | Early Times Reporter
Srinagar | Oct 28
The gun shattering Kashmir, off-late, is becoming a breeding ground for cancer patients, with cancer cases rising at an "alarming rate", say experts.
With the situation turning out to be grim, only health education and proper infrastructure to cure the disease is believed, can help in minimizing the growing cases of cancer. For doctors the growing number of cancer cases is posing a serious challenge before health authorities.
"The situation regarding cancer in valley is alarming. There is an age shift in this disease; youngsters are becoming malignant at high rate, "said Dr Nisar Ahmad Wani, oncologist, Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar.
As per a study conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research in the Jammu and Kashmir, over 6,800 cases of cancer are reported in the state every year. And grimly more than 50 per cent of these patients are from valley only, said Dr Wani.
"Mostly cancers of stomach, lung, colon and rectum and reproductive organs are prevalent here," he added.
Dr Wani has experienced that patient usually report for treatment when they are in their final stage of disease. "It (cancer) involves those organs where it can last for long and shows it symptoms when the disease in the final stage. That is why patient fail to report their disease to cancer specialists at their early stages," he added.
The Regional Cancer Center, which was established in Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences on April 16 this year, has registered 1128 cases of cancer till date. "This amounts to 210 cases of cancer patients per day," said Dr Sheikh Aijaz.
And to reduce the grim situation of cancer in Kashmir, cancer specialists feel that a massive awareness campaign about the disease and better technology to deal with the disease at early stages can help in bringing down the rising graph of cancer in Kashmir.
"Health education to both doctors and patients about this disease can help in arresting the growing disease of cancer here," said Dr Wani, adding that once the cancer cases are being picked at their early stages and exposed to therapeutics, and then only the disease could be brought down.
"Infrastructure at peripheral hospitals needs to be upgraded, so that precious time of cancer patients could be saved before they can reach to medical institutes in state or outside," Dr Wani suggests.
"We have a state of the art cancer department in GMC but the number of patients treated at the center is increasing day by day," said the Principal Government Medical College, Prof MA Shah.
Kashmir's cancer specialists say that what they require for proper treatment and diagnosis is six radiotherapy plants and three departments of medical and surgical oncology.
Though exact reason for the occurrence of cancer among people was not known but according to the World Health Organization, more than 50 percent of cancers occur due to smoking, diet, infections and change in lifestyle. |
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