NATHEALTH reports key requirement to battle diabetes

Alarming increase in Diabetes cases among Indians calls for high-impact public health interventions to check and prevent this lifestyle disease. Stakeholders of the health sector gear up to extend full support to the government in this battle.

Being the apex platform representing the healthcare sector, NATHEALTH, in its reports and recommendations, has been emphasizing the need for high-impact interventions, multi-stakeholder engagement and effective awareness programmes to check this life threatening disease.

Rahul Khosla, President, NATHEALTH said, "Immediate steps are necessary to ensure the transformation of India's healthcare system, and we need to scale up and expand current programmes to control NCDs, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, with care offerings that integrate screening, prevention, treatment and follow-up, enabled by partnerships, both private-private and public-private and across the delivery, insurance, technology and pharmaceutical sectors of the healthcare industry."

Anjan Bose, Secretary General, NATHEALTH said, "Government is focusing on ensuring multi-stakeholder engagement for prevention, check and care to make India a healthy country.

Government's recent announcements in the Union Budget were commendable. Announcement of National Dialysis Service programme is a welcome measure for the health sector 15 percent increase in government spending on the social sectors with focus on healthcare should go a long way in ensuring universal health coverage. It will further strengthen the Government's vision for a better and healthy India."

"We need to adopt a long-term vision and roadmap to prevent and control lifestyle diseases. Rolling out high-impact public health interventions is certainly one of the key requirements to battle diabetes," emphasizes Bose.

NATHEALTH's Aarogya Bharat Report reveals that there has been an increase of over 100 percent in diabetes cases since 2000. India has its 38 million urban population diabetic and more than 80 million Indians are pre-diabetic, making every fifth diabetic in the world an Indian.

Prevention and early diagnosis are the most cost effective ways to control non-communicable diseases. Prevention at primary stage is essential but there are major loopholes in the treatment cycle which makes drop-offs in diagnosing issues, treatments and appropriate care and awareness among people.

"There is an immediate need to be aware about symptoms and effects of diabetes enabling prevention and initiate diagnoses at an early stage. Today, late diagnosis is the norm, and it imposes a high cost of treatment. Treating diseases early improves survival rates and results in lower costs," said Bose.

According to the report, if a Type-II diabetic takes the treatment in early stages then the total spending on treatment is as low as Rs. 2500. At the same time if a diabetic patient goes for diagnosis with major complications, he/she has to spend 10 times more on diagnosis and treatment i.e. Rs. 25000. This results in creating major loss to the economy.

"It is estimated that non-communicable disease will cost India USD 6.2 trillion by 2030. A 10 percent rise in chronic disease will result in 0.5 percent lower rates of annual economic growth," the NATHEALTH Report revealed.