Opinion India’s burden of lifestyle diseases is growing. We need a multi-pronged approach

In 2017, the National Health Policy emphasised the need to focus on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like heart ailments, diabetes and respiratory afflictions. The policy was a response to an epidemiological transition that had commenced around the second decade of this century. The report of the latest Global Burden of Disease study, released earlier this week, shows that the shift has become more pronounced in the eight years since the policy came into operation. It makes a strong case for a healthcare strategy that recognises the adverse effects of environmental pollution, unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles. Another key takeaway of the report is that though Indians are living longer, chronic diseases diminish the quality of life of senior citizens.

The Global Burden of Disease study should be read along with other recent studies on NCDs in India. WHO data, for instance, shows that these diseases are responsible for close to 65 per cent of deaths in India and about a fourth of those who succumb to NCDs are below the age of 70 — this figure is roughly 12 per cent for the US and 17 per cent for China. In other words, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and lung ailments are cutting the lives of a large section of Indians short, hurting their families, society, and the economy. The problem is also that some of these diseases are not well understood. The Global Burden of Disease study draws attention to one such ailment, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) — it constitutes more than 75 per cent of the country’s burden of respiratory diseases. COPD is incurable, but not untreatable, and early diagnosis can make a big difference. In a large number of patients, however, the disease evades diagnosis because doctors do not follow protocols and most often target the symptoms — cough, cold and fever. In recent years, the government has bolstered community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs) in rural areas. The Global Burden of Disease study underscores the next-level challenge for the National Health Policy — to strengthen the diagnostic acumen of doctors at CHCs and PHCs.

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The country needs an approach that combines medical research with understanding from nutritional and ecological sciences. Ensuring that people make healthy choices will require building awareness — on food habits, physical activities, the environment — from a young age through schools, families, and communities. Building synergies between projects targeted at the environment, the National Clean Air Programme, for instance, and those aimed at improving people’s health and well-being is an imperative that
cannot be postponed.