Non-Communicable Diseases Claim 5.2 Million Lives in India

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) in association with Voluntary Health association of Assam (VHAA) organized a media consultation programme on Friday and shared about the project Arogya, a Community Based Intervention on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Kamrup Metropolitan district.

Speaking about the project Arogya Ruchira Neog said, “The project aims at supporting and strengthening the government initiatives and programmes for the prevention and control of NCDs in the state. By sensitizing communities and screening high risk factor, we ensure that the people are referred to the government health centers for further diagnosis and treatment. Regular follow ups are also done of high risk cases.”

Presenting a PowerPoint presentation, Jyotika Baruah said, “Non-communicable diseases in Assam accounts for 51.2% of the total disease burden in the state. In Assam, the major risk factors for NCDs are Malnutrition (17.4%), High Blood Pressure ( 7.6%) and Tobacco (5.7%).”

VHAA further informed that tobacco use prevalence in India has declined from 34.6% to 28.6% in eight years between 2009 and 2017 while in Assam, it has increased from 39.3% to 48.2%. By giving instances of many cases and findings of focus group discussion conducted by the NGO, Baruah said, “5.2 million deaths are occurring in India due to NCD and the awareness level is very law. NCD can be controlled by taking proper safety measures and by following healthy lifestyle. Project Arogya in association with the LalPathlabs foundation and in collaboration with the State government will always work on tackling the threat of NCDs through sensitizing and encouraging the general people to adopt a healthy lifestyle.”

Also Read: Arogya To Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) In Assam

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