Asia PR News

SYDNEY, Sept. 28 /MediaNet International-AsiaNet/ –

Cardiovascular disease is now a leading cause of death in rural India,
according to new research published by The George Institute for International
Health and The University of Queensland. The findings from a large survey
conducted in Andhra Pradesh, India, highlights the rapid growth of chronic
diseases and injuries in developing countries. Published this week in the
International Journal of Epidemiology, the report raises significant concerns
for hundreds of millions of individuals living in rural India. The report
highlights the need for the development of new health care services to address
this huge new burden of chronic diseases.

In line with India’s rapid economic and societal changes, there has been a
shift in focus from infectious disease. Diseases of the cardiovascular system,
such as heart attacks and stroke, caused 32% of deaths in this region. Death
from injury (self-inflicted injury, falls, etc) was the second most common
cause (13%). Infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, intestinal infections
and HIV/AIDs caused only about 12% of deaths just ahead of cancer that caused
7% of deaths.

Dr Rohina Joshi of The George Institute said this research shows a new
pattern of mortality and highlights areas that require urgent attention. “This
‘causes of death’ data is a key indicator of the health problems now facing
rural India. While health systems have been designed mostly to cope with
infectious diseases, we now need services that can deliver care and prevention
for chronic diseases,” said Dr Joshi.

Professor Alan Lopez of The University of Queensland, who has led similar
studies in Asia and Africa, said that the findings were an urgent call for
action to control chronic diseases in developing countries. “Far too little
attention has been devoted to preventing adult death in poor countries, in part
because we have not fully appreciated how common these diseases already are in
these countries,” he said.

This new research complements other recent research by The George Institute,
which highlights the growth of smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and other
causes of chronic disease in this area of rural India.

“Risk factors for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke
are common in this community. We have previously shown that over one fifth of
adults have high blood pressure, one quarter are smokers and abut the same
proportion are overweight. We also know that the management of these risks
remains poor,” Dr Joshi added.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting
for more than 16 million deaths annually. The majority of these deaths now
occur in developing countries such as India, where rates of heart attack and
stroke have ballooned in the last few decades. In addition, because
cardiovascular diseases occur earlier in life in developing regions, the
economic impact is enormous. It is estimated that cardiovascular conditions
will trim more that 1% from India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2015.

The study involved 45 villages in East and West Godavari Districts of Andhra
Pradesh, with a population of more than 180,000. Whilst the villages enrolled
in this study are more developed than many rural regions in India, the results
are seen to be indicative of the new health issues that much of rural India
will face in the coming decade.

Associate Professor Bruce Neal, a Senior Director at The George Institute,
explained that “These results confirm the speed with which health problems are
changing in even quite rural areas of India. The growth of conditions like
diabetes is going to drive a huge increase in heart disease and stroke in
regions that are not well equipped to deal with such diseases,” he said.

This study of the prevalence and management of diabetes in rural India was
completed as part of the Andhra Pradesh Rural Health Initiative (APRHI). This
initiative is a collaboration between The George Institute and The University
of Queensland in Australia, the Byrraju Foundation, the Centre for Chronic
Disease Control (CCDC) and the CARE Foundation in India. Since 2003, the APRHI
group has worked to identify the main health problems in the region and to
develop evidence-based methods of dealing with them.

- Ends -

Media enquiries:

The George Institute for International Health
Emma Orpilla
Public Affairs Officer
Tel (+61 2) 9993 4592
Fax (+61 2) 9993 4501
Mobile (+61) 10 411 983
Email: eorpilla@thegeorgeinstitute.org
Web: www.thegeorgeinstitute.org

SOURCE: The George Institute for International Health