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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : April 10, 2014 1:54 PM IST
There is a need for a coherent strategy to control non-communicable diseases in the country with a special focus on alcohol consumption, experts said Wednesday. 'It is important to think of a coherent strategy and put together overall policy framework for control of non-communicable diseases where alcohol and tobacco form the basis of a policy formulation,' C.K. Mishra, additional secretary in the health ministry said at a consultation on alcohol control here.
The consultation 'Alcohol Control: Public Health Perspective - moving forward towards a comprehensive national alcohol control policy' was organised by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) in collaboration with the union health ministry. 'There is a need to address the problem of alcohol use from public health perspective with multi-stakeholder involvement from government, civil society and like-minded organisations,' Mishra said.
In India, alcohol is a state subject and states and union territories have the power to frame policies and guidelines on issues relating to movement, possession, marketing, availability, consumption, sale and state excise rates of alcohol. Monika Arora, director-health promotion, PHFI, said: 'The consultation aimed at creating a conducive environment to address alcohol problem in India from a public health perspective. It also discussed a draft white paper on alcohol control in India enlisting the public health interventions and programmes needed to overcome the burden of alcohol in India.' (Read: Health Ministry to tackle non-communicable diseases)
'... a final white paper on alcohol control from this consultation will be presented to the government,' Arora said.
How non-communicable diseases are hurting the economy?
According to a study done by Harvard School of Public Health, the economic burden due to non-communicable diseases will be about $6.2 trillion for India, from 2012-2030. This amount is almost nine times higher than the total health expenditure for the past 19 years.
So what has brought about these astronomical changes in the numbers? While communicable diseases like polio and malaria are getting under control, there is a rise in cases of diabetes, hypertension, etc in urban India. And no, it is not just restricted to the aged, these diseases are attacking the youth in great numbers. Is our lifestyle to be blamed for this? Sedentary lifestyles, smoking, drinking, unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise. If this is what your routine consists of, then it won't be too long before the symptoms for one or the other disease shows up.
Diabetes galore
According to the World Health Statistics report 2012, 11.1 per cent of the adult male population and 10.8 per cent of the female population have raised fasting blood glucose. Compare it with our neighbouring countries, and barring Pakistan, India has the highest number of diabetics, a whopping 6.1 million and counting. (Read: Non-communicable diseases should be monitored)
With inputs from IANS
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