GUWAHATI, Oct 7 - City-based Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) is going to introduce a one-month certificate course in �Domestic Help Care Giver� from November 1.
The programme will have both theoretical and practical sessions, said an official statement.
�Individuals with minimum 10+2 standard qualification in any stream can apply for this course and this will generate self-employment opportunities. The beneficiaries of Domestic Help Care Giver can avail the services of such paid volunteers. BBCI has also contacted the Directorate of Health Services, Government of Assam to become a partner in this course,� it said.
BBCI added that Assam and the northeastern region do not have trained home care providers to deal with the increasing need of the elderly.
�In India, the burden of non-communicable disease (NCD) has increased from 30.5 per cent in 1990 to 55.4 per cent in 2016, as per the report of the Global Burden of Disease Study group published in the journal Lancet Oncology in 2017. This is largely due to increase in life expectancy, changes in lifestyle and habits, urbanisation and industrialisation. Major NCDs are cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke and chronic respiratory diseases,� said the statement.
In 2003, there were 9.6 crore elderly people in India, which comprised eight per cent of the total population, which will increase to 32 crore (or 19 per cent of the total population) by 2050.
�Geriatric population suffers from chronic illnesses like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and musculoskeletal conditions (Osteo-arthritis, etc.) in addition to other NCDs. Shortage of hospital beds in our country makes it necessary to provide more complex care to the elderly with chronic or with co-morbid health conditions at their homes. Nowadays, due to creation of nuclear family, the need of a family care-giver has increased manifold,� said BBCI.