State asks civic bodies to give month-long medication to diabetes, hypertension patients

In order to ensure compliance with treatment, the Maharashtra public health department has directed all municipal corporations to dispense medication for one month to patients with hypertension and diabetes

In order to ensure compliance with treatment, the Maharashtra public health department has directed all municipal corporations to dispense medication for one month to patients with hypertension and diabetes.

A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation health officer says a total of 35,000 patients in the city have enrolled with the civic body for both diabetes and hypertension treatment. HT File Photo

A circular, which was issued earlier this month, said the move aimed to stop discontinuation of treatment once the stock was over.

“It was observed that patients were given medicines for seven days, which meant they had to go to the hospital/dispensary four times a month. During the pandemic, we realised that the majority of our patients were senior citizens. By giving them a month-long medication means we reduce their risk of getting infections from hospitals and at the same time, we also don’t have to keep huge stocks that lead to wastage,” said Dr Satish Pawar, additional mission director, National Urban Health Misson.

The decision was taken by the department to implement the national programme for prevention and control of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Dr Pawar said the civic bodies had also been instructed to hold telemedicine consultations with patients.

“We have instructed field healthcare workers like community nurses and ASHA workers to follow up with the patients and check if they are taking medicines regularly. We have also asked them to deliver medicines on the doorstep of those who are unable to visit the dispensary/hospital in case of being bedridden, quarantined because of Covid-19, disability, etc.,” he said.

A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) health officer said a total of 35,000 patients in the city had enrolled with the civic body for both diabetes and hypertension treatment. “Normally, among the 30 plus age group, 2% have diabetes and 3% have hypertension. Of them, 70% take treatment in private and the rest comes to us,” he said.

The official said they had started providing medicines for a month to such patients. “We see that patients of hypertension and diabetes are irregular with their treatment because of lack of awareness of these two silent killers. We used to dispense 7-14 days of medication. However, we noticed that because of time constraints or other problems, many a time, they couldn’t make it to hospitals. Many discontinue their treatment too,” the health officer said.

Welcoming the decision, Dr Kedar Toraskar, critical care specialist, Wockhardt Hospital, and state Covid-19 task force member, said, “A robust public health programme like this to manage diabetes and hypertension will go a long way. We saw how uncontrolled sugar levels and hypertension increased the complications in Covid-19 treatment. Both the non-communicable diseases increase the risk of complications for other diseases too and make the person prone to infections.”

Dr Ganesh Manudhane, head of cardiology, Sevenhills Hospital, which has been the BMC’s largest Covid-19 facility, said compliance with treatment was a major problem with diabetes and hypertension patients.

“Like the tuberculosis programme, we need strict follow-up with such patients to ensure compliance with treatment. TB is curable, but a diabetes and hypertension patient has to take life-long medication. Once these patients continue treatment for six months to one year, it becomes a habit,” he said.