1 lakh slum dwellers suffer from lifestyle diseases: BMC survey

More than one lakh people from the lower socioeconomic class in Mumbai suffer from hypertension, diabetes and cancer owing to sedentary lifestyle, access to junk

More than one lakh people from the lower socioeconomic class in Mumbai suffer from hypertension, diabetes and cancer owing to sedentary lifestyle, access to junk food and rising tobacco consumption. This was the finding of a first-of-its-kind health inspection of 25 lakh slum dwellers undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from September 23 to October 9.

The BMC, with around 2,700 two-member teams, conducted the survey to identify both communicable and non-communicable diseases and screened 10 lakh households in the city slums. The survey of 25 lakh residents diagnosed 5,342 with suspected tuberculosis (TB), of which, 172 were tested positive, 2,362 with suspected leprosy, and 1,127 were identified with cancer symptoms.

“Changing lifestyle has turned diabetes and hypertension into silent killers. Due to lack of awareness, slum dwellers get delayed treatment which increases the chance of morbidity,” said Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive officer, health department, BMC. “People need to be more cautious about high-risk non-communicable diseases.”

Dr Santosh Revankar, deputy executive health officer, BMC, said easy availability of junk food is not only affecting those from higher socioeconomic background but also slum dwellers.

“A large section of slum dwellers consume unhealthy street food available at every corner. Commercial fast food such as chips costs only ₹10 which is easily affordable,” he said.

Medical experts in civic and government-run hospitals have in recent years witnessed an increasing number of patients between the age group of 25 and 35 and women from urban slums with non-communicable diseases. “Sedentary lifestyle, high amount of tobacco consumption along with stress affect the slum dwellers’ health,” said Dr Prafulla Kerkar, head of department, cardiology, at KEM Hospital. “Most truck and auto drivers spend hours driving without any exercise.”

Dr NO Bansal, professor and head of cardiology department, JJ Hospital, said there is a general perception that lifestyle diseases do not affect the lower strata of the society. “There is a demographic difference between rural Maharashtra and Mumbai, but we see that within Mumbai the health issues of patients from slums are similar to those from the higher socioeconomic classes.”