In near future, 50% of cancers worldwide will occur in countries labelled as developing countries today.
More than 18,000 cancer cases were reported in last three years in Jammu and Kashmir, as compared to 10,000 in the three years before that, say official figures.
Cancer patients who have lived on for 10 years after detection of the deadly disease, were felicitated at the Oncology department of Government Medical College in Jammu.
One of the brave survivors, 70-year-old Mohammad Hussain from Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is suffering from lung cancer and has spent 5 years shuttling between hospitals in Jammu. He has pulled through tough times despite financial constraints since his diagnosis.
"I need constant check-ups, but I should get free medicine as I am a poor man", said Mohammad Hussain.
At present, the state does not have advanced radiotherapy facilities like 'radiation linear accelerator' or latest machines like a PET scan for detecting the origin and spread of cancer.
"Number of cancer patients have almost tripled over the years, this of course is based on our hospital logs of patients reporting to us. But there are many more in the periphery who might not be able to reach us even", said Dr Ashutosh Gupta, Head of Department - Oncology, GMC Jammu
The government seems to have just recently taken note of this situation.
"We now have a PET scan sanctioned for the Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIIMS), I think there is a need for developing some infrastructure in SKIIMS, the process has already started, a team from government of India has given its clearance", says Bali Bhagat, Minister of Health and Medical Education, Jammu and Kashmir.
World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted that by year 2020 number of cancer cases will increase to 15 million, of which 10 million will be in the developing world.