Srinagar, Sep 24: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA from Pulwama Waheed Ur Rehman Para on Thursday urged the Jammu and Kashmir government to treat the rising cancer burden as a health emergency and adopt a coordinated response similar to the one mounted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to reporters, Para said cancer was not only claiming lives but was also imposing a significant economic and emotional burden on families across Jammu and Kashmir.
“We told the government to confront cancer in J&K in the same way as it was confronted by COVID-19. COVID-19 was treated as a health emergency, and the government’s response was robust and multi-departmental,” he said.
Para claimed that around 70,000 cancer cases had been reported in J&K over the last five years, including around 15,000 cases this year, and called for a comprehensive assessment of the reasons behind the reported cancer burden.
He cited Dagripora village in Pulwama as an example, saying that 10 people had died of cancer there.
“This is not only affecting the current population, but it is also affecting the future population,” Para said.
The PDP MLA also referred to the decline in fertility rates in Kashmir and said the government should examine possible factors contributing to the region’s changing health and demographic profile.
He pointed to food and drinking-water practices and the use or possible misuse of pesticides as areas requiring greater scrutiny, while stressing that the precise reasons behind the reported rise in cancer cases needed to be scientifically established.
“Whatever the reasons are, the government needs to put efforts to find out why cancer is spreading at this level in J&K, and it needs to be controlled so that the population here is saved,” Para said.
He called for a multi-departmental approach focusing on prevention, early detection, treatment, public awareness and investigation into possible environmental and agricultural risk factors.
“As a population, we are in danger because of a biological problem and a health issue,” the Pulwama MLA said.
