Union Health Minister Nadda Prioritizes Non-Communicable Diseases in Healthcare Policy, ETHealthworld

New Delhi: Since 60 per cent of deaths in the country take place due to non-communicable diseases, the area is being prioritised with focus on strengthening infrastructure, and early diagnosis and detection, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said on Tuesday.

Nadda chaired a session titled “Addressing Non-Communicable Diseases in India: From Preventive to Care” here on the occasion of Civil Services Day.

Addressing the gathering, Nadda highlighted the transition in India’s healthcare approach from preventive to curative care. He said, “In 2017, we came out with a holistic and inclusive health policy, where we focused on preventive, promotive, curative, geriatric, rehabilitative and palliative care.”

Nadda emphasised that while the country has performed very well on the communicable diseases front, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) need more focus as observing their outcomes require more time, and a knowledge gap exists in this field which needs to be addressed.

Acknowledging this, Nadda said, “Since 60 per cent of total deaths in the country take place due to NCDs, the area is being prioritised.”

He further said under the National Program for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, focus has been on strengthening infrastructure, early diagnosis and detection, timely referral, health awareness and management of NCDs.

“Health promotion is certainly one of the major areas, and management of these diseases and timely referral are also very important. These are the key issues we are trying to address as far as non-communicable diseases are concerned,” he said.

Underlining the government’s efforts, Nadda said in the past six years, the Centre has set up more than 1.85 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs — the first contact point between 1.45 billion people and health institutions. Each of these Ayushman centres has one ASHA worker, and wherever possible, other frontline health staff.

He further said the government has also strengthened mechanisms related to screening of NCDs.

Nadda highlighted the positive outcomes of these efforts, saying “We have developed around 107 non-communicable disease clinics at district-level points and 233 cardiac care units.”

“In this budget itself, it has been announced that every district will have a day-care cancer centre,” he added.

The Union minister underscored the large-scale screening efforts to address NCDs across the country.

He emphasised that since 2017, 41.5 crore people have been screened for hypertension, out of which 7.1 crore have been diagnosed, and 5.7 crore notified.

“We have tried to ensure early detection to help make India healthy. For example, 41.3 crore people have been screened for diabetes, out of which 4.7 crore people have been found diabetic, and 3.4 crore people are being treated. For oral cancer, 35.3 crore people have been screened so far and 2.3 lakh people have been diagnosed, and around two lakh people are being treated. Over 16.5 crore people have been screened for breast cancer.”

Nadda further said 8.73 crore screenings have been conducted for cervical cancer and 1.1 lakh women have been diagnosed, out of which about 97,000 are being treated.

He also underlined the proactive role of the government in detecting cancer at an early stage, reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases, renal failure, liver issues and other complications.

Nadda highlighted the efforts in consolidating and expanding secondary and tertiary care, asserting, “Today, we have 880 medical colleges, a number much more as compared to the past, and 23 All India Institutes of Medical Sciences nationwide, out of which 20 are already operationalised.”

Nadda emphasised that teleconsultation is one area where eSanjeevani has been very important.

So far, more than 46.4 crore patients have availed teleconsultation services, and the move has been crucial in addressing the disease burden in rural areas, he said.

Nadda also acknowledged that nearly 70 per cent of NCD risk factors are related to lifestyle and by focussing on prevention, a very large number of cases can be managed.

He underscored the different initiatives of the government to address lifestyle diseases, like “Eat Right India” and “Fit India”.

He reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to reduce oil consumption by 10 per cent, and to consume less salt and sugar.

He also emphasised the importance of information, education and communication and highlighted that significant awareness measures are being rolled out to tackle tobacco use. “India is one of the leaders in legislation on cigarettes and other tobacco products and there is noticeable reduction in smoking habits. However, there are other forms of tobacco use which still need to be addressed.”

Nadda also talked about the importance of physical activity and government initiatives catering to the same.