Sarwar Kawoosa | Onlykashmir.in Feature Desk
The Jammu & Kashmir administration’s initiative to formulate a comprehensive Cancer Care Strategy, spearheaded by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, is both timely and commendable. The vision of creating an integrated, accessible, and technology-driven cancer care ecosystem marks an important step towards addressing one of the most pressing healthcare challenges confronting the Union Territory. Yet, while strengthening treatment infrastructure is indispensable, it addresses only one part of the problem. The more fundamental question remains unanswered: Why is cancer increasing at such an alarming pace in Jammu & Kashmir?
Cancer has emerged as a grave public health crisis across the region. In recent years, the incidence of the disease has risen markedly in both urban and rural areas, affecting families irrespective of social or economic standing. Hospitals are witnessing an unprecedented influx of patients, while countless individuals are compelled to travel outside the Union Territory in search of specialised medical care, often at immense financial and emotional cost.
There is, therefore, an urgent and undeniable need to establish world-class diagnostic and treatment facilities within Jammu & Kashmir. The success of cancer management depends overwhelmingly upon early detection and timely intervention. However, access to advanced diagnostic technologies—including molecular pathology, PET-CT imaging, comprehensive pathology laboratories, precision oncology, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and multidisciplinary cancer care—remains inadequate and unevenly distributed. Every district should have access to dependable screening programmes, efficient referral mechanisms, and specialist oncology services, while tertiary hospitals must be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and adequately trained medical professionals. No patient should be compelled to leave the Union Territory merely to obtain essential cancer care.
Yet, even the finest healthcare infrastructure cannot, by itself, resolve the growing cancer burden. Treatment addresses the consequence; it does not necessarily explain the cause. Public anxiety over the rapid increase in cancer cases cannot be dismissed as mere perception. It demands rigorous scientific inquiry.
The Government must therefore constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or an independent multidisciplinary commission comprising oncologists, epidemiologists, environmental scientists, toxicologists, agricultural experts, public health specialists, and medical researchers to undertake a comprehensive investigation into the factors contributing to the rising incidence of cancer across Jammu & Kashmir.
Such an investigation must examine every plausible determinant. Are environmental contaminants compromising drinking water sources? Has the indiscriminate use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers increased long-term health risks? Are industrial emissions, hazardous waste disposal, air pollution, changing dietary patterns, tobacco consumption, occupational exposure, or genetic predisposition contributing to the disease burden? Are there geographical clusters where cancer incidence is disproportionately high, and if so, what common environmental or demographic characteristics do they share? These are questions that deserve scientific answers rather than conjecture.
The proposed inquiry should include district-wise epidemiological mapping, environmental sampling of water, soil, and food, evaluation of agricultural practices, assessment of industrial pollution, and comprehensive studies of lifestyle and occupational risk factors. Equally important, its findings must be made public in the interest of transparency, scientific integrity, and informed policymaking.
An effective cancer strategy cannot be confined to hospitals and treatment centres alone. Prevention must stand alongside diagnosis and treatment as an equal pillar of public health policy. Sustained public awareness campaigns, population-based screening programmes, early detection initiatives, stringent regulation of carcinogenic substances, tobacco control measures, environmental safeguards, and continuous scientific surveillance must become integral components of the Union Territory’s long-term cancer control framework.
The people of Jammu & Kashmir deserve more than access to quality medical treatment; they deserve to know why this devastating disease appears to be advancing with such disturbing frequency. A truly comprehensive cancer policy must therefore rest upon three inseparable pillars: excellence in diagnostic and treatment infrastructure, universal access to quality cancer care, and an independent, evidence-based investigation into the underlying causes of the disease’s rising prevalence.
Only by addressing all three dimensions simultaneously can Jammu & Kashmir hope not merely to treat cancer, but to prevent it, reduce its burden upon future generations, and restore public confidence in JandK’s healthcare system.
The writer can be reached at – sarwarkawoosa36@gmail.com
