Ms Pooja Kapur, Joint Secretary, ASEAN, Ministry of External Affairs, said that increasing incidence of diabetes worldwide particularly in the Asia-Europe region was a matter of great concern and all possible steps should be taken to reduce the incidence.
Ms Kapur was addressing Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) workshop on Non-Invasive Technologies for Diagnostics and Treatment of Diabetes as a Lifestyle Disease, organized jointly by Ministry of External Affairs, CII and ASEM, coinciding with CII-International Engineering and Technologies Fair (IETF) in the capital today.
“The costs associated with diabetes care are high and increasing world-wide. This adversely impacts financial spending and puts undue strain on the economies of countries in the developing world. Lower economic groups which have to spend between 25% to 35% of their income on diabetes care are often the worst affected”, she said.
Quoting data of International Diabetes Federation, Ms. Kapur said that the number of adults afflicted by the disease in low income countries is expected to rise from 344 million in 2010 to an estimated 472 million by 2030. Asia accounts for 60% of the diabetic population. The rise in trend in prevalence of gestational diabetes among Asian women is an increased risk.
“The onset of young age diabetes is especially problematic for it increases the burden of healthcare systems and the risk of premature mortality due to diabetic complications”, she added.
Referring to various steps being undertaken by Government of India to tackle the silent killer – diabetes- she said the Government has launched the National Program on Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS). The program, among other things, emphasizes on early diagnosis and management, capacity building at various levels for prevention, diagnosis and treatment, training of human resources and capacity building.
Ms Kapur also underscored that primary prevention was possible through lifestyle interventions. Studies, she said, show that lifestyle intervention over two decades can result in a sustained 43 per cent reduction in the incidence of diabetes. Cutting edge technology would go a long way in mitigating and combating risk caused by diabetes.
Mr Gonchig Ganbolo, Ambassador of Mongolia to India, flagged diabetes related problems in his country and wanted India to invest in the social sectors including setting up of hospitals in that country.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, in his address, said that the inclusion of healthcare in the ASEM agenda would go a long way in addressing the health related problems in the region. Diabetes and other non-communicable diseases are hindering the growth pathways of economy in a significant manner. “CII is alive to this problem and that is why we have collaborated with NITI Aayog to spread awareness and to involve the stakeholders in addressing the menace of diabetes”, he added.
Dr Shubnum Singh, Member-CII National Healthcare Council, sketching the future proportion of diabetes and lifestyle disease in India, opined that technology could leverage in providing low cost treatment to diabetes patients which could also help in preventing the disease and underscored the need for industry and the Government coming together in one platform. There are several pockets of research in the area of non invasive technologies for diagnosis & treatment of diabetes, largely in USA and Israel and pockets of Europe. In India the eco system to encourage R&D needs to be more robust. The other challenge for new technology & products adoption is price points.
Dr Rana Mehta, Knowledge Partner on Healthcare to CII and partner & Lead Healthcare, PwC, stressed the need for undertaking research and development and promoting innovations to address the menace of diabetes in the country.
4 February 2017
New Delhi