Hypertension, diabetes on the rise in Telangana: Survey

HYDERABAD: After completing screening programmes across 11 districts in two phases to screen the population for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), officials are all set to carry out the survey in Hyderabad as well. The first two phases threw up a worrisome trend that indicated a rise in cases of diabetes and hypertension among people in the districts.
Of the 32 lakh people screened in 11 districts, 2.72 lakh patients were found to be suffering from hypertension and 1.69 lakh diabetes patients were identified in the districts of Jangaon, Siddipet, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Medak, Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural, Rajanna Sircilla, Jagityal and Bhupalapally.
Besides hypertension, which is the biggest disease burden in the state (maximum number of people affected), diabetes, anaemia, cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, stroke, cancer, bone fractures, hearing and vision impairment and malnutrition are the other top ailments affecting people in the state, as per health records.
The next phase of the survey will begin from June 1, as per officials in the state health department. “As per the plan, besides screening people for cardiac problems, screening for kidney and neurological problems is also planned in order to detect the ailment early for tackling health issues among the most underprivileged population and prevent deaths,” said a senior official from the state health department.