Hypertension and diabetes caused by environment pollution and changing lifestyle of the people were found to be the leading non-communicable diseases affecting the health of people in Manipur, Dr K Rajo, Director of Health Services, Manipur said on Tuesday.
According to Dr Rajo, suspected hypertension was detected in as many as 54,886 (38.79 per cent) people in the state, while 13,077 confirmed cases were found. A total of 53,445 (37.76 per cent) people were detected with suspected diabetes and so far, 10,778 confirmed diabetes cases were detected during the health screening process conducted across the state as a part of the CMHA programme.
The Chief Minister’s Health for All (CMHA) programme was launched in October 14, 2021. It is the first door-to-door health screening programme started in Northeast India. So far, the programme is being implemented in 613 villages across the 16 districts of the state. And, the screening process is completed in 338 total villages with the screening of 1,41,519 individuals, Dr Rajo said.
Also Read: Climate Change: Causes, impacts and mitigation measures
Pointing out that the main cause of the non-communicable diseases is the changing of lifestyle, mainly the changing food habits and environment pollution, Dr Rajo said that as per the data provided by the World Health Organisation and the Indian Council of Medical Research, 16 per cent of the death cases in India is due to non-communicable diseases
According to the data available with the National Family Health Survey 2019-20, a total of 26 per cent of female and 37 per cent of male in the state has hyper and hypo tension; 16 per cent of the female and 19 per cent male has diabetes, while 39 per cent of the female and 33 percent male have obesity, the health director informed.
The objective of the CMHA is to identify and diagnose non-communicable diseases by conducting house-to-house visits and giving early treatment, Dr Rajo said. He said it also aims to create awareness among the public about the government health schemes - CMHT and PMJAY schemes.
The state’s health programme is targeting to screen at least 5 lakh people in the state by September.
Announcing the possibility of introducing the ambulatory dialysis in the programme in the near future, the director of Health Services said such health programme of the government is the first of its kind in the entire Northeast region.
The director appealed to the general public in the state to take the opportunity of the programme.
As per the data available with the state nodal officer of CMHA, Dr Y Premchandra, the highest number of health screening under the CMHA is conducted in Imphal East and Imphal West districts in the state. A total of 46,473 persons were screened in Imphal East and 24,486 persons were screened in Imphal West.
District with least number of health screening
Hill districts Pherzawl and remote Tamenglong reported the least number of health screening done under CMHA. So far, only 382 and 875 individuals were screed in the two districts respectively.
As a result, the most cases of hypertension and diabetes were reported from Imphal East (the highest) and Imphal West (the second highest), said the state nodal officer.
As many as 10 non-communicable diseases are screened during the CMHA programme. They include hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, kidney ailments, chronic respiratory disease, mental health problems and stroke besides three common cancers that are oral, breast and cervical.
The scheme is totally funded by the state government for which ASHA workers will get additional incentives, Dr Premchandra said during the launch of the scheme in the stae. He said that the scheme is different from CMHT as it was about finding out the sick persons by conducting tests at their doorsteps, particularly for Non Communicable Diseases (NCD).
Also Read: Formula milk marketing: WHO reveals shocking details
