Jhajjal and Giana villages in the Talwandi Sabo block of the district are now free of the cancer stigma with the spotlight shifting to other places following the ongoing statewide cancer survey.
Owing to the stigma, it had become an uphill task for residents of the two villages to find matrimonial alliances. Earlier, almost every household in the two villages had at least one cancer patient. But according to the latest cancer surveillance project report, there have been 12 cancer deaths in Jhajjal and four in Giana during the past five years and eight residents of Jhajjal and seven of Giana are undergoing treatment.