Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 15: Raising alarm over colossal Helicobacter Pylori (H pylori) infection in Kashmir, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today attributed it to highly contaminated water.
Ascribing H pylori infection to high prevalence of gastric cancer in Kashmir, the DAK president, Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan said that the unsafe water supply to denizens is responsible for this infection.
“Around 70% of the population in Kashmir is infected with H pylori which cause most of the gastro duodenal diseases. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IRAC) sponsored by WHO in 1994 has categorized H pylori as class 1 carcinogen and a definite cause of human gastric cancer.
“Gastric cancer accounts for more than 60% of all cancers in Kashmir and most of the epidemiologists believe that H pylori is possibly the only cause of stomach cancer in areas with high incidence of the infection,” he said.
The DAK president said the unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation in Kashmir favor high prevalence of H pylori infection in the population. “According to a study carried out by National level monitoring agency, under union rural development Ministry, 60% of villages and over 40% of schools in Kashmir rely on unsafe drinking water,” he said.
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