Ominous portends do flash for Odisha as the State in incidences of diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and common cancer is figured in the top-5 States in the country in the year 2016.
While Odisha finished number 3 among major States in incidences of diabetes, in blood pressure (BP), the State was at number 4 in the country. Odisha figured at 5th slot in the country in number of diagnosed common cancer (oral, cervical and breast) patients.
According to the data available under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS), Odisha with a diabetes incidence of 18 per cent and high-BP incidence of 19 per cent had piped progressive States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and most BIMARU States like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Data reveals when under NPCDCS, a high of 4.17 lakh persons in the State attended the NCD clinics for screening of non communicable diseases like diabetes, blood pressure, cancer and heart disease, around 74,000 were screened with diabetes and over 82,560 with high blood pressure. A total of over 1,717 attendees in State were diagnosed of having been affected by common cancer. Over 2,000 in State were diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases last year.
District wise data reveals some surprising revelations. It’s not big cities like Bhubaneswar or Cuttack but Keonjhar, State’s mining hub, which reported the maximum cases of high BP, that too, in rural areas. Kendrapada and Mayurbhanj followed in the incidences of high BP in the State. Other districts recording higher BP incidences are Nayagarh, Dhenkanal and Kalahandi.
Notably, Mayurbhanj had topped the State in deaths due to heart ailments or hypertension for the last few years, reveals the State hospitals data; whereas Kendrapada, Nayagarh, Dhenkanal and Kalahandi were among the high burden districts due to heart ailments for the same period.
However, when it comes to diabetes, Sambalpur district has reported the maximum cases with high sugar level. But Khordha district tops the State with most cases. Sources informed that Khordha district has the maximum rural populace affected by diabetes in the State followed by Sambalpur and Kandhamal. Cuttack also figured in the high-burden list in Odisha, revealed the data. Though proportionately more male are affected by diabetes than female, Keonjhar and Jharsuguda are two exceptions noticed in the State. About half-a-dozen districts in State have diabetes affected population more than the State average.
Among cancer patients, cervical cancer took the higher burden in the State last year. Mostly, rural women are diagnosed with cervical cancer than their urban counterparts, data reveals.
Most men in State are affected by oral cancer, courtesy tobacco chewing. Breast cancer cases are fewer comparably. On the whole, women cancer patients outnumbered men last year.
Significant to mention here is, according to the cancer incidence data available with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), women cancer patients in Odisha totalled to over 53 per cent of total cancer cases against 47 per cent men for last few years. In contrast, the average of women cancer patients in the eastern region is around 51 per cent.