EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sept 2: In an alarming finding during a survey conducted by Union Health Ministry has revealed that 8.9 per cent of population in Jammu and Kashmir is affected with diabetes and High Blood Pressure, much higher than many of the states in country. Reason includes high salt intake, stress and less physical activity.
Hill states of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttrakhand have recorded high rates of diabetes or high BP.
Studies conducted in J&K say that most of the patients are affected by Diabetes Mellitus Type-2, which is slowly making its inroads in small towns and rural areas and possibly linked with the changing dietary pattern among the major chunk of population in past two decades.
The ministry has rolled out a diabetes screening programme in 21 states with a target to check 150 million people in 100 districts for diabetes and hypertension.
Rising diabetes prevalence in the Indian subcontinent is too serious a matter to be left to a Diabetologist alone as it requires a consistent joint crusade involving various government and non-government health agencies to educate people.
It is mainly linked with a metabolic disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance, which not only raises the cost of medicine but also affect the economic situation of poor families. |
