Apollo Hospitals presented a health report of the nation to mark World Health Day on Wednesday, based on the data collated from ProHealth, their comprehensive health plan.
Unveiling the report at a virtual launch, Apollo Hospitals group founder and chairman Prathap C. Reddy said non-communicable diseases (NCD) caused an unacceptable loss of lives. They also accounted for 40% of all hospital stays.
The data collated during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that the nation was letting slip another epidemic in the form of non-communicable diseases, the impact of which was visible. “Apollo ProHealth is a proactive personalised health management programme backed by cutting-edge technology — advanced diagnostics, artificial intelligence and predictive algorithms — to help identify your health risk,” he said.
The ProHealth package ranged from ₹5,000 to ₹13,000. Dr. Reddy said although the government had provided a tax break for preventive healthcare of up to ₹5,000, very few were aware of it and even among those, very few used it.
The group’s joint managing director, Sangita Reddy, said the hospital used its experience and collated information from 21 million health records of people using artificial intelligence and big data analytics to predict risk and prevent non-communicable diseases.
The doctors at the group presented a report on the health of the nation, according to which in the past two decades the top cause of death due to non-communicable diseases had risen to 64.9% as compared to communicable diseases, maternal and other causes that dropped to 25%.
Anupam Sibal, group medical director, said the study showed the highest prevalence of pre-diabetes and diabetes among the 45-60 age group and almost as high as the 60+ age group. Among the diabetics, around 50% had hypertension and were above the recommended weight.
Around 60% of these diabetics were leading a sedentary lifestyle. The data indicated that women had lower incidence of non-communicable diseases than men, but the difference was marginal. Hence, they must stay vigilant. “The economically disadvantaged are also not spared, although with lower prevalence,” he said.
Sathya Sriram, CEO, Preventive Health, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, said, “Over the last 12 months, a cohort of ProHealth guests with diabetes have shown 33%-60% target achievement across multiple health parameters, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, physical activity and HbA1c.”
