The incidence of cervical cancer in Jammu and Kashmir has shown a marginal increase over the five-year period from 2021 to 2025, even as during the same period the UT of Ladakh has recorded a stable caseload. This was revealed by the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
In a written reply to a Question No. 2407, answered on February 13, 2026, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav stated that as per data from the National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research, under the National Cancer Registry Programme, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 70 cervical cancer cases in 2021, which gradually rose to 73 cases by 2025. For Ladakh, the estimated at remains constant at one case annually from 2021 through 2025.
The data was furnished in response to a question raised by Members of Parliament Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sajda Ahmed regarding the state-wise incidence of cervical cancer and the government’s response to the disease.
The Ministry confirmed that the Indian Council of Medical Research has attributed Human Papilloma Viruses (HPVs) types 16 and 18 as being responsible for over 80 per cent of invasive cervical cancer cases in the country. In response, the Department of Health and Family Welfare is extending technical and financial support to states and union territories under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, as part of the National Health Mission. The programme includes population-based screening of individuals aged 30 years and above for common non-communicable diseases, including cervical, breast and oral cancers.
The Ministry informed the House that nationwide infrastructure under the programme includes 770 District NCD Clinics, 364 District Day Care Cancer Centres and 6,410 NCD clinics at Community Health Centres. It added that 297 more District Day Care Cancer Centres had been approved for the financial year 2025–26 to strengthen district-level cancer care services.
Nineteen State Cancer Institutes and 20 Tertiary Cancer Care Centres have been set up in different parts of the country, and cancer treatment facilities with diagnostic, medical and surgical capabilities have been approved in all 22 new AIIMS. On the question of non-inclusion of the HPV vaccine under the Universal Immunization Programme, the minister stated that it had initiated capacity-building exercises for medical and paramedical staff in preparation for HPV vaccination, but the vaccine had not yet been formally incorporated into the programme.
Nationally, the total estimated cervical cancer cases have increased from 76,898 in 2021 to 79,239 by 2025, according to the figures placed before Parliament, with Jammu and Kashmir reflecting a modest rise and Ladakh continuing to report very low estimated numbers.
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