GUWAHATI, May 14 � Inadequate awareness about and attention to potential health problems, including health issues of the elderly that can be treated or prevented, is adversely affecting the people in Kamrup district.
The findings of a study conducted by the city-based multi-specialty hospital chain, GNRC Hospitals, feature data analysis from records of the last 17 years maintained by it, besides various other publicly available sources.
According to the study, the overall percentage of epilepsy cases in Kamrup that do not receive appropriate medical treatment is 96.68 per cent. The study also reported that every year, 2,473 (estimated) people in Kamrup suffer stroke, 76,619 people are afflicted by coronary artery disease and 2,61,717 people fall victim to hypertension. On trauma, the GNRC study quoted a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, which stated that 50.4 per cent accidental deaths in Assam occurred in road mishaps while in Kamrup 218 deaths occurred in the year 2013 and 71 deaths till March last year.
Speaking on the occasion, GNRC Chairman-cum-Managing Director, neurologist Dr NC Borah said that even after 67 years of Independence, people were yet to get redressal of their healthcare problems, and that healthcare service providers and all other stakeholders must accept responsibility for the same.
�Lack of health adversely affects not only the population�s physical well-being but also its mental, social and economic well-being. A healthy population is also one that is energetic, one that contributes to and drives the economy,� he added.
The study further reveals that stroke and other neurological conditions affected 19,693 elderly people in Kamrup. While 60,870 elderly people are estimated to suffer from hypertension and other cardiac conditions, an estimated 55,947 aged persons suffer from musculoskeletal, arthritis and locomotion disorders, and an estimated 23,274 elderly people suffer from chronic kidney disease. The figures for diabetes stood at 15,576, while the figure for cancer stood at 13,427.
Requesting the media to support the healthcare providers� mission, Dr Borah stated that the primary cause of lack of treatment or inadequate attention to prevention was lack of awareness.
�Today, early intervention through modern medicine and proper lifestyle management can prevent or address the overwhelming majority of cases of conditions such as epilepsy, stroke, coronary artery disease, hypertension and trauma incidents. Such deaths and crippling disabilities are largely attributable to ignorance of people. Only media can help take this message of preventive healthcare and early intervention to each and every family,� he said.
