Himachal Pradesh turns cancer bowl with 257% jump in 3-yr

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Himachal Pradesh cancer cases shoot up

By Our Correspondent

New Delhi, September 8: Himachal Pradesh government has admitted that there are 32093 registered cancer patients in the state. There were 8978 registered cancer patients in Himachal Pradesh in 2021.

In a span of three years, there has been exponential rise in the registered cancer patients in Himachal Pradesh. In three years, Himachal Pradesh saw a 257 per cent jump in number of registered cancer patients.

The health minister of Himachal Pradesh, Dhaniram Shandilya, told the state Assembly that there are 32093 registered cancer patients in the state. Proportionately, the hilly state has one cancer patient for every 225 persons.

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Hindustan in a report quoted Dr Manish Gupta of the IGMC, Shimla, saying that his hospital alone is getting 2500 to 3000 cancer patients annually. The report also quoted horticulture experts saying that Himachal Pradesh has at least one per cent more usages of chemical fertiliser in growing vegetables and fruits.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi in a report in June this year had pinned the blame on the rising cancer cases to contaminated ground water. It stated that groundwater was contaminated with geogenic uranium and industrial pollutants such as zinc, lead, cobalt, nickel, and chromium.

Dr Arvind Kumar, a cancer specialist, in a blog in 2023 named Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Bihar with maximum number of cancer patients.

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Down To Earth in a report in June this year said that IGMC, Shimla and Himachal Pradesh University are conducting joint research on incidence of cancer. “This research is examining what proportion of the pesticides used in the agricultural fields is polluting the sources of water,” added the report.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has announced free of cost treatment and free medicines for cancer patients. “The state government will provide 42 medicines free of cost to cancer patients in government hospitals for their treatment and these medicines have been included in the state’s essential medicine list,” said a statement issued by the state government.

The hilly state is also undertaking to prepare a registry of the cancer patients along with the types of prevalence. Experts allege that the industrial belts in Himachal Pradesh are discharging untreated sewage which is adding to the contamination of the groundwater.

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