Cancer cases went up after COVID-19 pandemic, says Ramdev; experts say there is no connection

"Cancer has increased a lot. The cases of this disease have gone up after the COVID-19 pandemic. People have lost their eyesight, their sense of hearing," he said.

PTI

February 18, 2023 / 20:11 IST

Ramdev made the remark while speaking before a gathering early morning at Miramar beach in Goa (File image)

Yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday claimed that cancer cases increased in the country after the COVID-19 pandemic, but medical experts said there was no correlation between the two and the rise in cases was a normal phenomenon.

Cancer cases have been rising by five per cent every two years and it has nothing to do with the pandemic, a renowned oncologist said in Panaji.

Ramdev made the remark while speaking before a gathering early morning at Miramar beach in Goa where his Patanjali Yog Samiti hads organised a yoga camp.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was also present with him on the stage.

"Cancer has increased a lot. The cases of this disease have gone up after the COVID-19 pandemic. People have lost their eyesight, their sense of hearing," he said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show