Punjab health minister asks Punjabis to stop liquor intake

Chandigarh, Dec 18 (UNI) Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla today attibuted the increase in cancer cases in Punjab to the dietry habits of Punjabis, besides the use of pesticides, which had shown an upward trend in recent years.

" If you leave liquor, tobacco and do not take non vegetarian items, cancer will be controled", she said while replying to querries by members who expressed concern on a recent PGI, Chandigarh report on the increasing cancer cases in Punjab during Question Hour in the state assembly.

She also suggested that farmers should not wash the empty cans or bags of pesticides in canals as this virtually poisons the waters that flow through Punjab.

Replying to a question by Ajit Singh Shant, Ms Chawla said that there was a proposal under consideration of the government to set up a cancer hospital within the complex of Bathinda Civil Hospital under Public-Private Partnership mode. The member had expressed concern over the increasing cancer cases in the Malwa belt of the state.

UNI