11.7L persons in Meerut div in ‘vulnerable’ health category

Lucknow: Over 11.75 lakh persons in the high-burden Meerut division belong to the ‘vulnerable category’, as per an assessment done by the state health department.
“These persons were found to be suffering with at least one comorbid medical condition in the door-to-door execise undertaken by health teams between July 2 and 12,” said additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad, on Sunday.
The exercise covers vulnerable persons like pregnant women, persons suffering with comorbid conditions like cancer, renal disease or diabetes, elderly and children below 10 years of age. Now, it is underway in the remaining 17 divisions of the state.
Prasad said that a total 2,51,94,708 crore households were covered by over five lakh teams in the massive exercise. “The health teams reached out to 12,94,35,139 persons, of whom 11,75,975 (about 1% of the total population) accounted for at least one comorbid condition,” he said.
Among the vulnerable persons, most were diabetics, followed by those suffering from hypertension. “Of those with comorbid conditions, 8,48,593 were diabetics while 2,38,238 were on blood pressure medication,” Prasad said.
The list also included those with cardiac ailments (54,247), renal issues (16,879), and cancer (18018). The health teams also gathered data on influenza like illness, severe acute respiratory illness and those suffering with a lung disease. The data under these heads is being computed.
Six districts of Meerut division — Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Hapur and Baghpat — account for about one-fourth of the total Covid burden in the state. At present, these six districts account for 27% of the active infections and one-fourth of all coronavirus related deaths.
In a public interaction organized by Unicef, state surveillance officer, Vikasendu Agarwal had mentioned that comorbid conditions made it easy for the pandemic virus to operate inside its host. “Of those who died in UP, over 70% were suffering with one or the other comorbid condition. Though a formal audit of available data on Covid deaths is still underway, diabetes was a crucial risk factor. Thus, precaution and prevention protocol is the only life-saving bet we can bank on,” he had said.