SRINAGAR: Over 32,000 cancer cases have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir in the last three years, with lung, breast, oral, cervical, prostate and pancreatic cancers being the most common.
J&K Health Minister Sakina Itoo, in a written reply to a question by PDP MLA Waheed Para, informed the Assembly that 32,425 cancer cases were reported in the UT in the last three years.
More cancer cases have been reported from Kashmir.
According to the official data, 25,621 cancer cases were reported in the Valley in three years from 2021-2024. Of them 8,021 cancer cases, including 4,333 males and 3,688 females, were reported in 2021, 8,621 (4,685 males, 3,936 females) in 2023 and 8,979 (4,789 males and 4,190) cancer cases were reported in 2024.
In Jammu region, 6,804 cancer cases were reported in three years from 2023-2025.
Of them, 2,026 cancer cases including 1,177 males and 859 females were reported in 2023, 2,187 cases (1,248 males and 939 females) were reported in 2024 and 2581 cancer cases, including 1,116 males and 1,465 females were reported in 2025.
In the budget, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said the government will roll out a Cancer Control Strategy for J&K in collaboration with NITI Ayog and ICMR since J&K has witnessed a rise in incidence of cancer.
“The core focus of the strategy will be prevention, early diagnosis and better treatment of cancer patients through improved diagnostic equipment and treatment modalities,” he said.