Hospital Updates

Apollo Hospitals revealed the Health of the Nation report which showed prevalence in NCDs

On the World Health Day, Apollo Hospitals, Asia’s largest and most trusted healthcare group, disclosed the report of the Health of the Nation 2022. The report revealed the prevalence and occurrence of non-communicable diseases across the country (NCDs). It highlights trends in NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD) and asthma, obesity in different regions of the country including the potential of AI and data analytics in determining the risk and early identification of the NCDs.

       Non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic obstructive lung disease, are responsible for 70% of the deaths worldwide.  In India, NCDs kill about 6 million people every year among them 23% are between 30-70 years of age. During the pandemic some of the non-communicable diseases acted as co-morbidities besides COVID. Due to COVID the prevalence happened enormously. NCDs are threats to healthcare causing families higher socioeconomic costs. They are also diverting India from achieving its target of reducing premature mortality by 2030 along with the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development.

     Key findings of the Health of the Nation 2022 report for Diabetes Mellitus showed an increased prevalence in the southern and eastern parts of India. The average national prevalence is about 6.96%. Urban areas showed a higher prevalence at 7.01% as compared to rural areas with 6.70%. Regarding Hypertension, the study showed a national prevalence of high blood pressure at over 8.18% especially in the Northern and Eastern parts of India. Data also indicated that adult males between the ages of 36 to 50 years have a 36% higher chance of developing hypertension than adult females belonging to the same age group. Here, also urban areas showed 8.6% rise compared to rural areas with 7.58%.

     Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD) showed a similar rise as that of the global occurrence which is 2%. Here, the data showed that females between 36 to 50 years of age have a 1.3 times higher chance of developing COPD as compared to that of males.

The Indian Healthcare had already switched on to the modern technology before the pandemic. Apollo Hospitals has been at the forefront being one of the early adopters of digital technologies in healthcare. The Group also has Telemedicine facilities across several countries, Health Insurance Services, Global Projects Consultancy, Medical Colleges, Colleges of Nursing and Hospital Management and a Research Foundation. Apollo Hospitals has been honoured by the trust of over 150 million individuals from 140 countries.

   Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group said that the country steadily formed a bulwark against COVID with a robust vaccination program that led to a steady fall in the number of COVID cases. He said that it is imperative to bring back the focus back on the pandemic of NCDs. He also said that to approach health as an investment and not as an expenditure.

Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *