PUNE During the second wave of Covid-19, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) conducted a door-to- door drive to record non-communicable diseases, as those with comorbidities were found to be more vulnerable to the Covid infection.
As per the data collected by the PMC based on oral submissions by citizens, the civic body has reported that one in every 10 Pune residents has reported a comorbidity. The most common comorbidities reported are diabetes and high blood pressure.
As per the data collected by the PMC, an estimated population of 4 million lives in the city and 402,343 reported a comorbidity, of which, 140,926 reported diabetes and 179,030 reported high blood pressure.
At least 63,000 reported both diabetes and high blood pressure. The district health office had reported that 74.7% of the people who were reported dead due to the Covid infection had associated risk factors. Until August, a total of 8,800 deaths were reported due to Covid-19.
Dr Vaishali Jadhav, assistant health officer PMC said, “The survey of non-communicable diseases is a national programme which was not undertaken, but now we are implementing the scheme across the city and are reporting non-communicable diseases because these diseases like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer or Aids are silent killers and have a higher death rates than even Covid-19. However, because of the pandemic we have become health conscious and so now the civic body is conducting a detailed survey again, to report every non-communicable disease so that we can prepare for the same. The city has an estimated population of 4 million and so as per our reports now we know that 10% of the city is comorbid, which is common for a metro city, the numbers in reality could be higher as these are just reported numbers.”
{{/usCountry}}Dr Vaishali Jadhav, assistant health officer PMC said, “The survey of non-communicable diseases is a national programme which was not undertaken, but now we are implementing the scheme across the city and are reporting non-communicable diseases because these diseases like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer or Aids are silent killers and have a higher death rates than even Covid-19. However, because of the pandemic we have become health conscious and so now the civic body is conducting a detailed survey again, to report every non-communicable disease so that we can prepare for the same. The city has an estimated population of 4 million and so as per our reports now we know that 10% of the city is comorbid, which is common for a metro city, the numbers in reality could be higher as these are just reported numbers.”
{{/usCountry}}