HYDERABAD: Telangana is one of the states in India with a high prevalence of both hypertension and diabetes, found the Apollo Hospital's Health of the Nation report released on Wednesday.
According to the report, diabetes prevalence in Telangana falls in the category of more than 8 per cent, which is the highest density in the country. Seven other states fall in this category. This prevalence can be gauged against the national average which is 7 per cent.
In terms of hypertension, the prevalence is in the second worst category at 8.18-11 per cent when the national average is at 8 per cent. The results were arrived at by a combination of data sets including Apollo’s medical history data, lab values and AI models.
Explaining that the data indicates a national prevalence for diabetes of around 7 per cent, over 8 per cent for hypertension, and around 2 per cent for CoPD & asthma, Dr Prathap C Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group said, these huge numbers will increase the burden of disease and impact growth.
"As we emerge from the shadow of COVID-19, it is imperative to bring the focus back on the pandemic of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs), a focus that faced a disruption impacting diagnosis and treatment for millions of patients. In India, NCDs kill 6 million every year of which around 23 per cent are between 30-70 years of age," Dr Reddy said.
56 per cent have at least one NCD
The Health of the Nation study further looks at corporate employee data of about 35,000 people, where the average prevalence of at least one NCD in employees is about 56 per cent. The NCD risk factors of high cholesterol is prevalent in 48 per cent of employees and obesity in 18 per cent of employees.