NCDs claim 10 lives every second in the country: Governor

Inaugurating the fifth Youth Health Mela-2019 organised by the Cancer Institute of the Women's India Association here, he said, NCDs kill 10 people every second in India. ''Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Diabetes are the main NCDs accounting for a substantial percentage of the mortality rates in India,'' he added.

Stating that these premature deaths reduce productivity, curtail economic growth and trap populations in poverty, Purohit said that the underlying determinants of these diseases and their shared risk factors clearly show that multi-sectoral, responses were required to prevent and control them.

This requires sustained action in a concerted and well-coordinated manner, he said and added that lifestyle related factors were mainly responsible for these NCDs.

He said rapid urbanisation has led to an increase in harmful behavioural patterns such as increased consumption of hastily cooked low-nutritive foods, reduced physical activity and increased exposure to alcohol and tobacco.

Noting that most premature NCD deaths were preventable by taking cost effective action to tackle the main behavioural risk factors like tobacco use, alcohol, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet, the Governor said that it was estimated that by just tackling these risk factors, 80 per cent of the premature deaths caused by NCDs could be prevented.

He said lack of physical activity, the main factor behind diabetes and obesity, cardiac failure and stroke contributes to around 3,00,000 deaths every year in India alone.

''Similarly, another common risk factor causing a high incidence of mortality is tobacco usage. It is the leading cause of death among Indians between 30-69 years of age and is a major health menace which kills or disables individuals in their most productive years,'' the Governor said.

''Rough estimates show that more than 50 per cent of the tobacco users are concerned about their tobacco usage. But they are not able to give up the habit since they do not know how to go about it,'' he said, adding events like this Mela would show them the way. Purohit said to the people of the State to be moderated in their diet, if they want to lead healthy lives.