An Indian resurgence in health and economic fortunes, with the two being interconnected, is on the horizon
India has a serious and growing problem with non-communicable diseases, from diabetes and cancer to heart and lung diseases. That’s the bad news. The good, or at least encouraging, news is that India is not alone in facing a public health challenge that is affecting the United States and other nations around the world in significant numbers. We can learn from each other’s progress and successes in confronting the escalation of chronic diseases. Even better news is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government has shown a genuine determination to rebuild and revitalise the India’s public health system. The country now has a genuine opportunity to slow the growth of illnesses that are claiming far too many lives.
In the US, it took time for Governments and society as a whole to come to grips with the non-communicable disease problem and realise that positive, focussed actions could make a difference in affecting the growth of illnesses. The escalation of these illnesses does not have to be regarded as inevitable, but can be curtailed through a pro-active healthcare system and a focussed effort to help people understand the linkage between lifestyle and health.
Eight to 10 per cent of India’s urban population suffers from coronary heart disease. The same holds true for the prevalence of diabetes. Six out of 10 people in India who die from non-communicable diseases are under the age of 70. These are seriously alarming statistics.
As Mr Modi looks to significantly increase India’s investment in healthcare, there are steps that can be taken to arrest the growth of non-communicable diseases.
Notably, curbing the escalation of chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes can enable India to make greater use of its healthcare finances. Today the US, spends roughly 80 cents of every dollar on the treatment of such diseases, whereas doing a better job of preventing symptoms from occurring in the first place will enable us to devote those resources to quality primary care, better treatment of unavoidable, catastrophic health occurrences, and development in medical research. To craft a better health future for itself, India can:
Make health literacy and lifestyle awareness an urgent priority. For the sake of India’s own long-term survival and prosperity, the Government must communicate the truths about how lifestyle affects health. Professor Prabhakaran Dorairaj of the Center for Chronic Disease Control has specifically cited poor diet and decreasing physical activity as leading reasons for India’s rise in chronic disease incidences. The impact of smoking can’t be ignored either. India accounts, by some measures, for 10 per cent of the world’s smokers. To reduce the rates of cancer, pulmonary disease and heart disease, there has to be a greater awareness of smoking’s relationship to sickness.
Make medication access a centerpiece of India’s new and improved health system. The greatest hope we have in combating non-communicable illnesses lies in the continuing research and development into new cures and therapies. In revamping its healthcare system, India will do well to find ways to make these medicines more universally available to its population. Studies have shown that significant savings can be achieved by using preventive medication, as opposed to allowing illnesses to worsen as they require more expensive care.
This will need a focus on how to improve a number of public policy areas — from the way health delivery and coverage is structured, to pricing policies that improve access and encourage competition, to intellectual property laws that have an impact on the ability of pharmaceutical innovators to make products available in the country.
Emphasise diagnosis and prevention. Research has shown that a majority of India’s citizens believe they have adequate access to health services. In actuality, though, the current system isn’t doing enough to stem the growth of non-communicable diseases. We have learned from practice in the US and other countries that structuring a healthcare system to include more routine visits to the doctor and diagnostic tests can save money by enabling the early treatment of illnesses before symptoms worsen.
The steps taken by Mr Modi can be a major turning point for India, both socially and economically.
(The author is Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University)