THD NewsDesk, New Delhi: After a national monitoring survey peer-reviewed showed worrying trends of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and related ailments in India, the health ministry is planning to develop a playbook for surveillance, research and funding of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
As part of the survey, the proposal calls for developing a prioritized national NCD research agenda for at least 10 years by:
- guiding research and funding priorities and stakeholder engagements
- to fill the knowledge and operational gaps in policies and programme requirements with the help of such research and fund.
The allocation for India’s tertiary care programmes increased from ₹311.50 crore (revised estimates) in 2020-21 to ₹500.50 crore in the Union budget 2021-22. Under this programme, India already has a National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS).
NNMS, the largest comprehensive national survey on risk factors and health systems preparedness of NCDs, has also called for the use of telemedicine for cancer, diabetes, heart diseases and stroke. The Centre took note of the issue after the National NCD Monitoring Survey (NNMS) report showed that two in five adults have three or more risk factors for NCDs and that the status of health system in responding to the disease burden is also underscored.
The survey results conducted during 2017-18, showed reports as:
- more than two in five adults and one in four adolescents had insufficient physical activity and their average daily intake of salt was 8g
- one in every three adults and more than one-fourth proportion of men used some form of tobacco and consumed alcohol in past 12 months respectively
- one in every four adults and 6.2% adolescents were overweight or obese; almost three out of ten adults had raised blood pressure and 9.3% had raised blood glucose.
“There is a need to improve multi-sectoral approaches to prevention and management of NCDs. Regular surveillance of NCDs is critical,” health minister Harsh Vardhan said earlier. Meanwhile, it is important to know that the survey funded by the health ministry was conducted by the ICMR and other government medical institutions.