Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 17: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has cautioned that diabetes cannot be allowed to drain India’s youth energy.
Delivering keynote address at Asian Health 2019 Summit, here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, over the years, the disease spectrum in India has shifted from communicable to non-communicable diseases like Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, heart disease, metabolic disorders etc., but the other significant development is that while disorders like Type 2 Diabetes till few decades ago were confined more to South India and urban population, now these are assuming epidemic proportions even in the Northern States, the North East and the rural areas.
Even greater challenge faced today, said Dr Jitendra Singh, is the occurrence of metabolic disorders, which were earlier seen at middle age or old age but have now begun to manifest at a much younger age. This, therefore, he said, puts a huge onus on both the health care planners as well as society, to ensure that Diabetes occurring at a younger age does not lead to adverse effects on vital organs like kidney, eyes and heart, thus in turn, causing incapacitation. For this, he said, the fundamental emphasis should be on preventing these disorders, he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh was all praise for the Ayushman Bharat scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said this was the most unique and most inclusive health cover option ever seen in the world. He also laid stress on the need to have more data from India, considering the fact that Indian phenotype is quite different from his western counterpart and, therefore, requires Indian strategies for Indian patients, for which the data can come from only authentic Indian studies.
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