Health Min prepares national framework for checking NCDs

Concerned over the growing cases of non-communicable diseases, the Health Ministry has prepared a national framework under the guidance of the WHO to meet its global voluntary targets and indicators in this regard.
The framework aims at tracking the progress in preventing and controlling of major NCDs like cardio -vascular diseases, cancer, chronic lung diseases and diabetes and their key risk factors which includes harmful use of alcohol, salt intake, tobacco use and physical inactivity.
These targets along with 20 indicators were decided at the advisory group meeting of Health Ministry and WHO officials held in Shimla recently.
In all, a total of nine targets and 25 indicators were finalised by the WHO's World Health Assembly at Geneva in May to enable global tracking of progress in preventing and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The meeting was attended by all member states of World Health Organisation.
The targets in the framework include 25 per cent relative reduction in overall mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases, at least 10 per cent reduction in the harmful use of alcohol, 30 per cent reduction in prevalence of current tobacco use in persons aged over 15 years and halt in rise of diabetes and obesity.
As occurrences of non-communicable diseases are on the rise in India, the Health Ministry is carrying out a national survey to screen all persons above the age of 30 years to find out the actual incidence of NCDs, cancer and diabetes.

A total of 2.25 crore persons across the country have been screened so far under the survey for diabetes and high blood pressure and around seven per cent of those screened have been found to be suffering from these diseases.