New Delhi: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for maximum out-of-pocket expenditure on health, and economic output lost due to them, excluding mental conditions, is estimated to be USD 3.55 trillion for the country for 2012-2030, the government said on Wednesday (May 17). In view of the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, associated morbidities and mortalities, the government has also widened the ambit of the prevention and control programme for NCDs by including chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and asthma, chronic kidney diseases and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases.
With the inclusions, the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) has now been renamed as the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD), the government said.
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NCDs are estimated to account for 63 per cent of all deaths in the country of which cardiovascular diseases lead with 27 per cent overall mortality cause followed by chronic respiratory diseases (11 per cent), cancers (nine per cent), diabetes (three per cent) and others (13 per cent), according to the World Health Organisation’s NCD-India profile for 2018.
In the revised operational guidelines for the NP-NCD, released on Wednesday, the government also said,
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for maximum out-of-pocket expenditure on health, and economic output lost due to them, excluding mental conditions, is estimated to be USD 3.55 trillion for the country for 2012-2030. The document of the Union health ministry that focuses on comprehensive primary health care stated that “comprehensive primary health care (CPHC) has an important role in the primary and secondary prevention of several disease conditions, including NCDs which today contribute to 63 per cent of the mortality in India.
The provision of primary health care reduces morbidity, disability and mortality at much lower costs and significantly reduces the need for secondary and tertiary care, it said. The document noted that as a step towards ensuring promotive, preventive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative aspects of universal healthcare, the government launched the Ayushman Bharat scheme in 2018.
It has two components to ensure universal health coverage — Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres and Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PM-JAY).
This ensures CPHC at the primary level and provision of financial protection for accessing curative care at secondary and tertiary levels through engagement with both public and private sector. The operational guidelines for the NP-NCD has been developed for policymakers of different levels, government officials, NGOs, peripheral health care providers and other stakeholders with the purpose of providing an understanding of promotive, preventive and curative approach to reduce morbidity and mortality due to NCDs.
The incidence of cancer in India is 13.92 lakhs, according to the the report of National Cancer Registry Program (2020), and among males, cancers of lung, mouth, oesophagus and stomach are the leading sites across most of registries. Breast cancer is the commonest cancer followed by cervical cancer among females.
The document provides guidance to programme managers for effective implementation of NCDs strategies with purpose of significant improvement of various NCDs indicators in the next seven years by 2030. The guidelines have been shared with states and Union territories for implementation to strengthen health care services for the NCDs across all levels of care, and to enable a continuum of care approach.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
