Thiruvananthapuram: There has been a significant increase in the incidence of lifestyle diseases in the state with low awareness about treatment and control status of those ailments. On an average, nearly one out of three adults above 18 years of age has hypertension and one out of five has diabetes. Among adults in the age group of 45-69 years, over two-thirds of the population which comes to about 67.7 percent have either diabetes or are in the pre-diabetes stage. These are some of the significant findings from the joint baseline survey carried out by the Achutha Menon Centre, which is part of the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), on the prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) conducted across all 14 districts.
The survey with a representative sample of 12,000 adults complied with the WHO-recommended methodology for NCD risk factor surveillance. It was executed through the functionaries’ of the health services department. Health minister K. K. Shylaja will release the project report on “Prevention and Control of Non Communicable Diseases in Kerala” at a function to be held at the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies auditorium at 4 pm on Tuesday. The survey is part of generating state-level estimates of prevalence of risk factors or risk conditions of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
Awareness about treatment and control status of both hypertension and diabetes was found to be alarmingly low even in relatively better educated state’s population. Only 13 per cent and 16 per cent of persons diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes respectively achieved satisfactory blood pressure and blood sugar control status. During the survey, one out of four adult males reported current use of some form of tobacco and over 30 per cent reported alcohol consumption. Almost 9 of the 10 participants, 86 percent, reported consumption of less than two servings of fruits daily.
Another significant finding points to the reversal of social gradient for diabetes. Experts said there was high prevalence of diabetes among low educated group as compared to individuals with more than high school level education. Diabetes, blood pressure and hypertension which were once known as health problems of the rich, are now widely prevalent among the low income group as well. Experts said while the low income group was emulating some of the habits of the rich, the affluent and educated were modifying their lifestyle through diet control and exercise thus bringing down the incidence of lifestyle diseases in some sections.
The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension was also putting disproportionate burden of health care on poor families. The study strongly argued for universal health care with provisions for appropriate management of diabetes and hypertension at the primary care level in the state. The study pointed out the urgent need for developing content specific, resource sensitive and scalable intervention strategies for implementation in the state. Along with the survey, the Achutha Menon Centre has already conducted 2930 orientation sessions for students across 335 schools, covering 170,487 students.
Besides, the centre trained 449 health workers in communicating NCD risk reduction strategies to the target population. Experts said schools were being encouraged to bring structural changes to facilitate NCD risk reduction initiatives like strict enforcement of tobacco control laws in the schools, encouraging physical activity providing access to playgrounds, sports goods and physical activities like cultivation of vegetables in gardens.
