Publication

Abstract : Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for 73.4% of mortality in the world in 2017. In India, NCDs account for 63% of mortality. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (CRD), and diabetes are the major NCDs. NCDs incur catastrophic health expenditure all over the world. In India, every year, 55 million people are drawn below poverty line due to health expenditure mostly for major NCDs like cancer, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. These NCDs have common modifiable risk factors viz. tobacco use, unhealthy diet, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity. This chapter will discuss these four NCDs and their risk factors with particular reference to the elderly population in India. CVDs accounted for 28.1% of mortality and 14.1% of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in India in 2016. The total number of CVD cases in the country increased from 25.7 million in 1990 to 54.5 million in 2016. Deaths due to CVDs in the younger population (<70 years) were 53.4% compared to 46.6% in the older population (≥70 years). Nearly 8.3% of the total deaths and 5.0% of the total DALYs were attributed to all cancers. The major CRDs are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. In 2016, 32% of the total CRD DALYs were contributed by India that had 17.7% of the world population. There were 65 million people with diabetes in India in 2016 compared to 26 million in 1990. Diabetes prevalence in the age group of 20 years and above increased during this period from 5.5% to 7.7%.