According to researchers from the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Center for Disease Informatics (ICMR-NCDIR), Bengaluru, the prevalence of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose is high among adults, while the level of awareness, treatment and control is still low in India . , which has released a paper on March 14 in the international journal, Frontiers in Public Health, providing a comprehensive picture of diabetes care in India.
The paper titled ‘Diabetes care cascade in India’ provides empirical evidence to strengthen diabetes care in the country and assessment results from the National NCD Surveillance Survey (NNMS) on diabetes prevalence, prevention and management services available in a public health facility. publishes.
The National NCD Surveillance Survey led by ICMR-NCDIR with support from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India seeks to examine the empirical evidence, identify and monitor population groups deprived of diabetes to address the gaps in the diabetes care cascade. demanded. Initiatives taken to curb the increasing burden of diabetes by 2025.
Under this, 9,721 adults in the age group of 18-69 years were surveyed across the country in 2017-18. The survey showed that diabetes was more prevalent among women and urban adults. Old age, obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are all considered major risk factors for diabetes. Key findings of the survey include that 9.3% of adults in India were diagnosed with diabetes. Of them, 45.8% were aware of their diabetes status, 36.1% were under treatment and 15.7% had their diabetes under control.
The prevalence of diabetes was two times higher in urban areas (14.3%) than in rural areas (6.9%). However, Dr Prashant Mathur, director of ICMR-NCDIR and lead author of the study, said the low awareness and treatment among rural adults as compared to urban adults is worrying.
Diabetes was more prevalent in women (10.2%) than men (8.5%), but the majority of women were diagnosed (6.0%). In addition, 44.2% of adults with elevated cholesterol and 16.3% of adults with high blood pressure had diabetes.
