Non-communicable diseases turn into silent pandemic, officials warn

Highlights

• 25% of the population now suffering from high blood pressure, 20% from mental disorders and 10% from diabetes, according to latest survey
• Increasing number of cancer patients a matter of worry, says health minister
• Unhealthy changes in lifestyle and food habits, air pollution, and food adulteration, and alcohol and tobacco use are the key reasons
• Health ministry recommends establishing a national database to monitor risk factors, raising mass awareness, increasing fruits and vegetable intakes to curb the diseases

Non-communication diseases have been turning into a silent pandemic in Bangladesh, health ministry officials warned while revealing the National Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors Survey 2022 on Sunday.

"We have seen the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences. Non-communicable diseases are also turning into a silent pandemic in the country, but it remains unnoticed," said Professor Dr Ahmedul Kabir, additional director general at the Directorate General of Health Services.

Professor Dr ABM Khurshid Alam, director general at the directorate, said, "We are concerned about the increasing number of heart disease, cancer and kidney patients in the country."

The rise of cancer patients is a major warning. Hence, it is important to arrange a screening for all at a specific time or age to detect cancer, he said at the event that took place at a hotel in the capital.

A total of 17 studies on different non-communicable diseases were conducted under the comprehensive survey between 2021 and 2022. It is a population-based household survey of adults aged 18-69 years and was carried out by using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling design. The previous edition of the survey was conducted in 2018.

"Non-communicable diseases are increasing day by day. Currently, 70% of deaths in the country are occurring due to non-communicable disease, which is alarming," Health Minister Zahid Maleque said.

Some 25% of the population is now suffering from high blood pressure, 20% from mental disorders and 10% from diabetes, while over 6% of children are suffering from obesity, he noted and added that unhealthy changes in lifestyle and food habits, air pollution and food adulteration and tobacco use are the key reasons.

"Lifestyle change is a huge issue. People eat less vegetables, but more salt and sugar. We have discovered the reasons. Now we have to take preventive and curative care. We can organise counselling in community clinics," Zahid Maleque said.

Non-communicable diseases are associated with a longer duration of different medical conditions with slower progress. They are also referred to as chronic diseases. 

According to the latest survey, 20% of the population, mostly women, doesn't meet recommended levels of physical activity. Around 20.1% of respondents smoke tobacco products and 24.8% consume smokeless tobacco products. Overall, 39.4% consume any tobacco products and 5.5% consume both products. Around 0.5% were current alcohol consumers and 93% were lifetime abstainers.

The prevalence of overweight was 29% and obese was 5.2%.

The prevalence of smoking (both smoking and smokeless tobacco) has shown reduced prevalence compared to the 2018 survey. All other risk factors like the prevalence of obesity/overweight, insufficient vegetables and fruits and insufficient physical activity have increased compared to that of 2018.

The survey also shows that approximately four lakh people in Bangladesh fall victim to snakebites, resulting in a loss of over 7,500 lives per year. Almost 95% of snakebite incidents occur in rural areas, and men are four times more susceptible to snake bites compared to women.

"This [deaths from snakebite] is huge now. We have a venom collection centre. Now we have to take measures to produce anti-venom," Health Minister Zahid Maleque said.

The health ministry recommends establishing a national database to monitor risk factors, raising mass awareness, increasing fruits and vegetable intakes, among others, to curb the non-communicable disease prevalence.