Chandigarh, March 13: Punjab recorded an average of 68 cancer-related deaths every day during 2025, according to data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The findings, recently tabled in Parliament, show a persistent upward trend in both the incidence of the disease and the resulting mortality rates across the northern states.
The ministry stated that Punjab saw 43,196 cases of cancer and 24,886 deaths throughout 2025. This reflects a steady climb from 2021, when the state reported 39,251 cases. Supporting figures for the broader region indicated that Haryana witnessed 50 daily deaths, totaling 18,387 fatalities from 33,395 cases, while Himachal Pradesh recorded 15 deaths per day.
In the Union Territory of Chandigarh, the incidence rose from 1,053 cases in 2021 to 1,183 in 2025. Mortality in the city also saw an uptick, reaching 644 deaths in the last year. Nationally, the burden remains heavy as 2,380 Indians lost their lives to the disease daily, with Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest mortality at 343 deaths per day.
Addressing the environmental factors behind these statistics, Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav maintained that water quality remains a primary concern for public health.
“The contamination of water sources by pollutants such as industrial waste, pesticides, heavy metals and pharmaceuticals is a significant public health concern,” the Minister declared before Parliament. He further asserted that a 2025 review provides a critical analysis of the link between such contamination and specific conditions like rectal and colorectal cancer.
The data further affirmed that breast cancer remains the deadliest form of the disease among women in Punjab, following an earlier study by the Indian Council of Medical Research. Across India, the total estimated cancer incidence rose by nearly 143,000 cases over a five-year period, reaching 1,569,793 in 2025.
