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JAMMU — About 1.50 lakh health and wellness centres are being set up across the country with a focus on prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday.
The minister of state in the PMO, who is also a renowned diabetologist, released the Jammu-related data of the "first of its kind" the world's largest survey -- 'ICMR-India Diabetes (INDIAB) Study' to assess the prevalence of the disease in the country.
"The government is setting up nearly 1,50,000 Health and Wellness Centres all over the country with a focus on prevention and control of NCDs like diabetes, hypertension and some forms of cancer,” Singh said.
He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with bringing in a preventable healthcare ecosystem in the country, saying before the Covid pandemic, this concept was alien to India.
"The credit goes to Prime Minister Modi for awakening the nation to the virtues of preventable healthcare, using traditional medicines like Ayurveda and Unani, and practising yoga for health," the minister noted.
Singh called for tapping the vast expanse of unexplored Himalayan resources of Jammu and Kashmir, saying these resources have a huge potential for making value addition to India’s economy.
According to the survey, the overall burden of the disease in the Jammu region covering its 10 districts is 18.9 per cent, with 26.5 per cent in urban areas and 14.5 per cent in rural areas which is higher than the national average.
Expressing concern over the rising cases of diabetes in the region, he called for adopting a multi-sectoral approach involving the government, non-governmental agencies, the community at large as well as the individual to slow down or stop the rising tide of diabetes and other NCDs.
Describing the INDIAB study as a landmark, he said its findings will help to estimate the health burden due to diabetes, prediabetes and metabolic NCD.
"The study will also help in shifting focus to the prevention and control of diabetes and other NCDs in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir," Singh said.
The findings of the study are expected to help policymakers, health professionals and stakeholders to develop targeted interventions for the prevention and management of diabetes and other NCDs in Jammu and across India as it was a national responsibility, he added.
He also highlighted the need for early detection of the disease as well as the need to break the chain of passing from one generation to another by focusing on diabetic pregnant women.
The Union minister said all-out efforts must be made to prevent the youth from falling prey to this preventable disease.
Calling the youth architects of a ‘Vikisit Bharat’, the minister said proper care of their health and well-being must be taken by all the stakeholders.
He said the energy and potential of youngsters cannot be consigned to this silent killer but must be nurtured and preserved to realise the goal of a developed India by the year 2047.