While increasing accessibility to healthcare facilities have led to the increased life expectancy of Indians from 49.7 years in 1970-75 to 68.7 years in 2012-16, at the same time poor lifestyle is resulting into swelling burden of non-communicable diseases, according to the National Health Profile (NHP) 2019 compiled by the Union Health Ministry.
Alarming suicide number (44,593) was also reported among young adults, between the age group 30-45 years in 2017, as per the NHP report. A total 1.33 lakh people died because of suicide.
Showing that women live longer than men, the NHP stated that for the same period, the life expectancy for females is 70.2 years and 67.4 years for males. At the same time, the report noted that “decline in morbidity and mortality from communicable diseases have been accompanied by a gradual shift to, and accelerated rise in the prevalence of chronic NCDs such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancers, mental health disorders and injuries.”
Out of 6.51 crore patients who attended NCD clinics under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) in 2018, around 4.75 per cent people were diagnosed with diabetes, 6.19 per cent with hypertension, 0.30 per cent with cardiovascular diseases, 0.10 per cent with stroke and 0.26 per cent with common cancers.
Taking account of the vector borne diseases in India, the survey pointed out in 2018, maximum number of cases and deaths due to malaria have been reported in Chhattisgarh (77,140 cases and 26 deaths). “The overall prevalence of the disease has diminished in 2012 and 2013 but there was a slight increase in 2014 and 2015 before it again started decreasing from 2016. Dengue and Chikungunya, transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, are a cause of great concern to public health in India,” the report said.
“Every year, thousands of individuals are affected and contribute to the burden of health care. Dengue outbreaks have continued since the 1950s but severity of disease has increased in the last two decades. However, the reported cases of Chikungunya in the country has shown a slight decrease from 67,769 to 57,813 in 2018 as compared to 2017,” said the NHP prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI).
“Data is an important source of understanding the needs and issues of the population. It helps in understanding the goals, our strengths and weaknesses and is also an important means to strategize area specific interventions,” said Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister after releasing the survey.
According to the report, there has been considerable decrease in the number of swine flu cases/deaths in the year 2014 as compared with 2012 and 2013. However, the number of cases and deaths has been drastically increased in 2015. The numbers decreased in 2016 but again increased significantly in 2017 and 2018.
There has been consistent decrease in the birth rate, death rate and natural growth rate in India since 1991 to 2017. As on 2017, India has registered birth rate of 20.2 per 1,000 population and death rate of 6.3 per 1,000 population while the natural growth rate was 13.9 per 1,000 population in India. The birth rate in rural areas was higher than in the urban. Similarly, the death rate and natural growth rate were also higher in rural areas as compared to the urban.
“The infant mortality rate has declined considerably (33 per 1,000 live births in 2016), however differentials of rural (37) and urban (23) are still high. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for the country was 2.3 whereas in rural areas it has been 2.5 and it has been 1.8 in urban areas during 2016 as per the latest available information,” the report said.
The population, however, continues to grow, as the decline in the birth rate is not as rapid as the decline in the death rate, the survey report said. It noted that the highest population density of 11,320 people per square kilometre was reported by the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) whereas Arunachal Pradesh reported the lowest population density of 17.