a beacon of hope for cancer patients

Talking of the cancer status, as per WHO almost 10 million people had died of different types of cancers in 2020 which means in every 6th person who died in 2020 one was suffering from cancer. In the same year, there were 2.26 million new breast cancer cases, 2.21 million new lung cancer cases, and 1.93 million new colorectal cancer cases.

In developing countries like India, the number of persons diagnosed with colon cancer is on the rise, and the World Health Organization forecasts that by 2035, rectal cancer would have climbed by 80%. Colon cancers in Jammu and Kashmir manifest differently than in Western nations, owing to a lack of awareness and nationwide screening. Furthermore, it is a cause for considerable worry today that the younger population in J&K is more afflicted and cancer is identified in the later stages of the disease. In 2011, SKIMS (Shere Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura Srinagar) conducted a study that indicated that around 4 people out of every 1 lakh are affected by colon cancer, with males and females experiencing the same rate of occurrence. Furthermore, Srinagar was found to have the largest number of colon cancer patients, whereas Kupwara had the lowest. Colon cancer is the most frequent cancer in women and the second most common cancer in men, according to a recent study published in 2019 by Government Medical College (GMC Srinagar). Among the risk factors discovered include a high-red meat diet, cuisine cooked over a high flame, a processed diet, a lack of exercise, and persistent smokers. J&K is swiftly emerging as the smoking hub of north India, and it may be described as a smoker’s paradise, with cigarette smoking prevalence about double the national average of 5.7 percent. J&K has 12 percent cigarette smokers, 3.8 percent bidi smokers, and 8 percent smokeless (chewable) tobacco users and tobacco is a risk for heart attacks, strokes, COPD, cancers, hypertension, and peripheral vascular disease. Lung cancer, colon, esophagus, stomach, breast, and brain cancers, non-lymphoma, hodgkin’s lymphoma, gastro-esophageal cancer, ovary cancer, and skin cancers including Kangri cancer are among the top 10 malignancies afflicting the Valley, according to specialists.