Fighting the staggering burden of NCDs on India: Apollo Hospitals’ ProHealth

I’m sure that you have known at least one person in your close social circle to suffer from Diabetes, Hypertension, high cholesterol, chronic heart or liver disease, obesity or cancer. And really gone are those days when a lot of people could live without taking many medicines until they died. Or die naturally at an advanced age. Unfortunately, with every passing decade, we are plagued by a shocking tendency of picking up NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseases).

I had the opportunity to attend a conference by Apollo Hospitals, one of Asia’s leading integrated healthcare groups, on the World Health Day, the last week. This was, indeed, an eye-opening report on the health of the nation, which is aggregated & systemized using data over 2 decades along the trend of rising NCDs across the Indian population. Plus, given that we’re brawling with the pandemic since over a year now, these health complications have only amplified further.

Key Stats of the report: the looming risk of NCDs

The Health of the Nation report gives us a fairly approximate perspective of the healthy and unhealthy – across occupations, genders, economic strata & demographics.

And it goes on to show that NCDs alone constitute 65% of total deaths in the country, which is a real reason to worry.

Have a look at the following infographic for a clearer insight.

The Health of the Nation study highlights the need to direct our efforts efficiently towards controlling NCDs through optimal use of our healthcare infrastructure. The highest prevalence of pre-diabetes & diabetes is seen in 45-60 year olds and is almost as high as the 60+ age group. Amongst the diabetics, around 50% also have hypertension and are above the recommended weight. Around 60% of these diabetics are also leading a sedentary lifestyle.

Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals Group

So, you can legibly understand that here’s a HIGH-RISK TRIAD that needs to be paid most attention to. That’s because a huge part of the population is suffering from one or more of these at the same time.

This TRIAD includes the following NCDs:

1. Hypertension
2. Diabetes
3. Dyslipidemia (High Cholesterol)

Correct & timely treatment may be a logical & much needed action to solve these health issues. But preventive care will always emerge as an immediate call to control & completely avoid such a dismal platter of health stats.

We’ve always grown up to the maxim, “Prevention is better than Cure.” Haven’t we?

And Apollo Hospitals, who have been into 37 years of consistent medical innovation & cutting-edge technology, are working towards shifting the paradigm from curative treatment to preventive care.

PRO-HEALTH: An edge over typical NCD-preventive healthcare

Assimilating the nature & progression of these Non-Communicable Diseases through impactful technology, the Apollo Hospitals establish that 80% of deaths due to NCDs can be prevented.by early detection.

Major NCDs like Diabetes, Obesity, Dyslipidemia, Chronic Liver Disease, Hypertension & many kinds of Cancer can be prevented by early diagnosis & timely treatement.

The challenge here, however, lies not just in the creation of awareness, but also the means to get these screening/risk assessment done for you.

For this, PROHEALTH has been Apollo’s solution to reduce the burden of such diseases on the nation.

What PROHEALTH can do?

PROHEALTH, is a personalized health program that has been curated by the Apollo group with Artificial Intelligence & data analytics to predict risk of disease(s) & customize care accordingly.

Also, it makes sense to understand the following case study of a village in Andhra Pradesh, Aragonda.

ProHealth, through model-community services in Aragonda, a village in the Chittoor district of A.P, has fared impressively under which 31350 people were identified as low, moderate & high-risk, according to their 10-year pattern. These persons were proactively taken care of through:

1. Regular follow-ups
2. Medication
3. Clinical intervention &,
4. Counselling

Following these, they were prescribed lifestyle modifications for NCDs that they were susceptible to, like, Diabetes, Hypertension & Cancer.

This village has been adopted by the Apollo team in 2013 & they’ve been looking after all the basic necessities of the people under this program, such as, nutrition, drinking water, kitchen gardening etc.

Under the TOTAL HEALTH program 1,980 diabetic & hypertensive patients have been put under regular follow up. These cases are now under control. Additionally, 5391 rural women were screened for cancer and 17 early cancer cases (cervix & breast) were diagnosed & managed with correct health intervention services, free of cost.

Viability of Pro-Health

AI & predictive algorithms can predict risk, prevent premature health events, & overcome chronic lifestyle diseases, when caught early. For example, we have developed a Cardiovascular Risk Score (AICVD) in the Indian population & it is now prospectively used & followed up on 33,000 individuals as part of ProHealth to predict the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Sujoy Kar, Chief Medical Information Officer, Apollo Hospitals

The range for ProHealth packages are from around Rs.5000 to Rs.13000. And you can sign up for this either online at Ask Apollo or at any of your nearest centres in India.

One would find PROHEALTH extremely viable & useful in helping to prevent an NCD or more with the use of predictive algorithms & AI. That gives the doctor the power to guide & protect you from developing a disease by giving you a customized holistic plan based on your risk, family history & lifestyle.

Re-iterating “Health is Wealth” to fight NCDs

Well, having said that, we know every person is different.

And so is his/her health & susceptibility to a certain disease. However, it is always important to realize that your health is your only tangible & priceless wealth. Let’s not realize it late.

As much as working on our health & fitness is crucial, ignoring our chances of developing a disease would only be a monumental mistake.

Unfortunately, we usually see that people tend to neglect their risks of getting a disease being over-confident about their diet, lifestyle & hereditary history. Given how uncertain life is, specially in this pandemic, strengthening our health with a good & stress-free life & access to preventive healthcare is of cardinal significance.

What do you think?

Have you or anyone from your family battled an NCD? If yes, I’d be interested to know how it was managed.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. However, all of the above other than the citations & statistics, have been my honest personal perspective. You may read my full disclosure.

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