State to focus on diabetes, heart ailments

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 15

With the state health commission terming diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases as the biggest health challenge for Himachal in the coming decade, the state government has decided to launch diseases control programme for these two ailments in all the 12 districts of the state from March next year.

The health commission, during its first meeting held here on November 26-27, had warned that these two diseases were likely to pose biggest threat in the next decade.

“From March next we intend to launch the control programme in all the 12 districts of the state so that people can be made aware and steps can be taken to reduce their vulnerability for these two diseases,” said Vineet Chawdhry, Additional Chief Secretary, (Health).

“At present, there is no exact data about the prevalence of these two non-communicable diseases in Himachal and the department has now got down to collecting it,” said Chawdhry.

He said the commission had also sought details about the various disease control programmes being run in the state. The commission, while expressing satisfaction over the achievements made by Himachal in the mother and child health care, had pointed out the need for focusing on controlling diabetes and heart diseases.

The data will be provided to the commission when it holds its second meeting at Dharamshala and Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College on January 23.

The commission headed by Prof MK Bhan, former Union Secretary, after the first meeting here had sought details about the constraints faced in human resource and status of medical research.

At present, a pilot project for control of diabetes and heart ailments is being run in Solan and Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here. The project was to be launched next at the zonal hospital, Mandi, but now with the commission asking the state government to take it up on priority, it has been decided to cover the entire state from March next.

The commission has been set up to review the health care services with the objective of envisioning a health care system for the state that would meet the short, medium and long term needs of the people. It will also recommend concrete and pragmatic roadmap, strategy, investment case and action plan to develop such a system encompassing primary, secondary and tertiary levels across all the social determinants of health.

Other members of the commission, most of whom are renowned medical experts, including Dr Vinod Paul, Prof and Head, Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS; Dr SK Sharma, former Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh; Dr Randeep Guleria, Professor cum Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, AIIMS; Professor Rajesh Kumar, Head, School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh; Dr TS Mahant, Cardio-thoracic Surgeon, Fortis Hospital, Mohali; Dr Raj Bahadur and DK Sharma.