India won’t meet UN targets to reduce premature mortality from major non-communicable diseases: ICMR-NCDIR

Subject: Science and Tech

Section: Health

Context:

India will likely miss reaching targets set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to reduce premature deaths from four major Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), according to an analysis by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Details:

The assessment was conducted by the ICMR’s National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR) in Bengaluru.
Method used for assessment: The publicly available data from the census for population and the Sample Registration System (SRS) for cause of death by 5-year-age groups were extracted. Age-standardized premature mortality rates, unconditional probability of dying, and annual percent change (APC) were computed.
The WHO has defined the unconditional probability of dying (UPoD) from the four NCDs between the ages of 30 and 69 as the progress indicator for monitoring the reduction in premature mortality.
Four of 10 NCD deaths are premature and occur before the age of 70. The majority of these premature deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, resulting in productivity loss and economic impact.

Findings of the assessment:

UPoD was higher among males, particularly around the age of 44, owing to risk factors such as tobacco use and alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, overweight/obesity, inappropriate diet (including high salt intake), and high systolic blood pressure.
NCDs account for 66 per cent of all deaths in India, of which 22 per cent were premature deaths in 2019.
The premature mortality rate for four major non-communicable diseases (NCD) namely cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic respiratory diseases (CRD), and diabetes, is projected to decrease by 13.9 percent from 2010 to 2025 in India.
- WHO target is a 25 per cent reduction in premature mortality rate of these NCDs.
- SDG target: Reduce it to a third from 2015 to 2030.
- The target of 25 per cent (WHO) and 33 per cent (SDG) could possibly be reached by 2039 and 2053 in India.
Lower and middle-income countries are reducing NCDs at a higher rate at 25.1 per cent.
Other countries’ previous reduction rates include Moldova (25 percent), Peru (23.2 percent among women), China (38.7 per cent), and Sweden (26.6 per cent).

Surveillance programme for NCDs in India:

National Program for Noncommunicable Diseases, the National Tobacco Control Program, the Eat Right India movement, the National Health Policy of 2017, and the National multi-sectoral action plan for prevention and control of Common NCDs 2017-2022.

Source: DownToEarth