KOCHI: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries together have overtaken infectious and childhood diseases in terms of disease burden in every state of the country, said health experts who were attending a two-day international public health conference at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences on Friday.
NCDs account for 62% of all deaths in India, followed by communicable diseases (28%) and injuries (11%). While infectious and associated diseases made up majority of disease burden in most of the Indian states in 1990, this was less than half in all states in 2016.
“India’s public health situation is problematic, with underfunded and overcrowded hospitals and inadequate rural coverage. This is despite increasing demand due to the growing incidence of age and lifestyle- related chronic diseases,” said Dr Vijaykumar, chief of public health and community medicine, Amrita Hospital. The Indian healthcare sector today witnesses 50% spending on inpatient beds only for lifestyle diseases. This has resulted in the rapid development of super-specialty hospitals to combat lifestyle diseases.
Health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan said that there was an immediate need to strengthen the primary health centres (PHCs).