Diabetes is increasing in Goa and other states, making it an epidemic we need to battle
A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research, carried out between 2008 and 2020 and said to be the largest ever on diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, has found that Sikkim and Goa have the highest prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes respectively. The study, carried out across 31 states and union territories, found the prevalence of diabetes to be 11.4% and prediabetes to be 15.3%. Published in ‘The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Journal’, the study said 136 million people in the country were prediabetic and 101 people were already dealing with the condition. Puducherry was found to have the highest incidence of obesity and Kerala had the most number of people with high cholesterol, at over 50%. The presence of diabetes was found to be the highest in the southern and northern regions, with urban areas the most affected, while the central and northeastern regions had low prevalence. The pattern for prediabetes showed a high prevalence in the central and northern regions. The study covered 1,13,043 individuals across the country with over 75,000 people hailing from rural areas.
Approximately 6% of the world’s population, that is more than 420 million people, live with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, according to the World Health Organization. This number has quadrupled since 1980 and is estimated that it would cross half a billion by 2030. While premature mortality from other major non-communicable diseases is decreasing, early deaths from diabetes have increased by 5% since 2000. In June last year, for the first time ever, WHO member states backed the setting up of targets as part of recommendations to strengthen and monitor responses within national programmes. The targets set the standard that by 2030, 80% of people living with diabetes are diagnosed, 80% have good control of glycaemia, 80% have good control over blood pressure, 60% of people with diabetes of 40 years or older receive statins, and 100% with type 1 diabetes have access to affordable insulin and blood glucose self-monitoring. The aim is to reduce the risk of diabetes and move towards a world where all people who are diagnosed have access to equitable, comprehensive, affordable and quality treatment and care.
The ICMR study has shown that the prevalence of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases in India is much higher than estimated earlier. These have serious implications for the country, with the WHO estimating that non-communicable diseases kill over 41 million people a year. As part of data released by the WHO in September last year, diabetes was listed as one of the major cardiometabolic risk factors, along with high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol. According to the ICMR study, in 2021, India had 101 million people with diabetes, 136 million with prediabetes, 315 million with high blood pressure, 254 million with general obesity, and 351 million with abdominal obesity.
The figures come as a wake-up call for Goa, and for the other states too, and warrant urgent state-specific policies and interventions to arrest and reverse the rapidly increasing epidemic of non-communicable diseases. With detailed state-level data available from the study, the Goa government must push for and develop evidence-based interventions to halt the rise of non-communicable diseases and manage the complications caused by them. The data should guide the planning and provision of healthcare in the state so that the chronic complications of diabetes, which include cardiovascular diseases and kidney complications, can be brought under control. The health department needs to strengthen and monitor diabetes responses within its programmes and provide recommendations for the prevention and management of obesity to the society at large. Along with guidance to its hospitals and other facilities on the treatment of people living with diabetes, it should also step up awareness about non-communicable diseases and how they can be kept at bay with changes in lifestyle and diet. Alongside, it must also impress on the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle and of regular exercise to prevent the onset of these lifestyle diseases.