Cancer declared notifiable disease in IIOJK amid rising cases
Srinagar : The authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have declared cancer a “notifiable disease” amid a steady rise in cancer cases across the territory, particularly in the Kashmir Valley.
According to Kashmir Media Service, a notification issued by the Health and Medical Education (HME) Department has made it mandatory for all hospitals, laboratories, clinics, nursing homes, medical colleges, diagnostic centres and institutions maintaining cancer-related data to report all cancer cases to the authorities.
The move comes as cancer is increasingly emerging as a major public health concern in IIOJK, with doctors reporting a growing incidence of lung, breast, oral, gastrointestinal and prostate cancers.
Health experts said the absence of a unified and mandatory reporting mechanism had long hampered effective policy intervention and surveillance. They noted that cancer-related data in the territory was previously collected mainly from tertiary care hospitals, while many patients sought treatment outside IIOJK or in private healthcare facilities, resulting in underreporting and duplication of records.
According to figures presented in the IIOJK Assembly earlier this year, over 32,000 cancer cases were reported across the territory during the last three years, with the Kashmir Valley accounting for the overwhelming majority of cases.
The authorities also acknowledged in the Assembly that cancer incidence in the territory has been rising steadily.
Public health experts believe that declaring cancer a notifiable disease will strengthen surveillance, improve data accuracy and help authorities formulate a more coordinated response to the growing health crisis.
