President urges measures to counter lifestyle diseases

MUMBAI - President Pratibha Patil Sunday called upon the medical community to evolve a comprehensive strategy to tackle the emerging threat of lifestyle diseases.

Inaugurating the 1,500-bed SevenHills Hospital, billed as the largest private sector health care facility in Asia, Patil said lifestyle-related ailments like diabetes and heart diseases, with their impact on loss of economic output, merited a multi-pronged strategy for preventive measures.

“A comprehensive approach is needed to combat the increasing prevalence of these lifestyle diseases. Our health system, must assume the responsibility of not only treating people, but also advising and guiding them about how to deal with and prevent some of these medical conditions,” she said.

“Regular campaigns should be organised by the government and institutions to create awareness on a wide scale,” she added.

The president pointed out that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that India could emerge as the diabetes capital of the world.

There are around 42 million diabetics in the country currently, and it is estimated that this figure will almost double and rise to 80 million by 2030, she said.

Besides, the Cardiological Society of India has estimated that the country is likely to have a 100 million heart patients or nearly 60 percent of the world’s total heart patients by 2020.

All this has led WHO to calculate that diabetes and heart disease in India will mean a loss of about $335 billion over the next 10 years, the president said.