Initiative to estimate disease burden, risk factors launched

The government today launched an initiative to generate estimations of disease burden and its risk factors in different states, to improve health programmes and planning in the country.
The initiative has been launched by the Health Ministry, in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
"A state-level disease burden estimation of all the major drivers of health loss in India will be generated by using methods of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, developed by a network of researchers coordinated by IHME," said Soumya Swaminathan, Director-General of ICMR and Secretary, Health Research.

Swaminathan said that estimations would provide the foundation for public policy. Well researched estimations can enable judicious targeting and help decide what needs to be done where, for whom, and when.
"For policies to ensure that the onset of disease is averted and if it occurs it should be treat quickly, it is necessary that we have an evidence-based understanding of the extent of disease burden, the population groups that are the most vulnerable, and what interventions are needed to avert premature death or needless suffering at the state-level in the country," Swaminathan added.