Panaji | 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 here.

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.

But renowned oncologist and former chief of the Indian Medical Association's Goa unit Dr Shekhar Salkar said the number of cancer cases is on the rise with the increase in population across the world.

Every two years there is a five per cent increase in cases, he said.

“Cancer cases are not going to come down. But at the same time, you cannot attribute it to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr Salkar who also heads the medical cell of the Goa BJP.

Without naming Ramdev, he said, “Celebrities should make statements responsibly as people have faith in their words.” India has 104 cancer patients per lakh of population, an increase from 85 patients per lakh in 2018, Dr Salkar noted.

“But at the same time, we are much better than the USA which has the rate crossing 500 patients per lakh,” he added.

India might surpass the US's cancer rate if we do not correct our lifestyle, he said.

Dr Shredharan N, a surgical oncologist, also said that a five per cent rise in the number of cancer patients is a normal phenomenon.

“There is no data to say that cancer has increased after COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.