·         Finds an increase in prevalence of early risk factors like Obesity and Dyslipidemia by 50% and 18% respectively between 2019 and 2022

·         ‘MIND HEALTH’ and Sleep emerge as a major unrecognized contributor to NCDs

·         Apollo also enhances ProHealth, a 100% doctor curated and AI-backed health program that captures one’s health status, personalizes tests, predicts risks and guides on a path to wellness, offering a one-stop preventive health solution, ending the era of generic health checks

Apollo, the world’s largest vertically integrated healthcare provider, has released its annual Health of the Nation report that deep dives into the prevalence and growth of NCDs and highlights the importance of the right preventive healthcare measures to ensure India stays healthy.

Dr Prathap Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, stated that “Preventive healthcare needs to become a national priority. Over the past 3 decades, non-communicable diseases have become the leading cause of death and suffering, contributing to 65% of deaths in India. NCDs affect not just health, but also productivity and economic growth. The estimated economic burden on India is expected be about $4.8 trillion by 2030. As the youngest and fastest growing major economy in the world, the health of our nation is a critical indicator of our future, and the health of our people will determine how effectively we live up to our full potential. What we need is a proactive and highly defined strategy to minimize the impact of NCDs. And the best solution lies in prevention.”

The increasing trend for NCDs and a significant rise in early risk factors

The rise in preventive screenings has also led to an increase in the diagnosis of early risk factors like Obesity and Dyslipidemia (cholesterol irregularities) among Indians across age groups. These are indication of the potential onset of chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension and a wake-up call for individuals to make early shifts in their lifestyle behaviors.

·         There is a 50% increase in the prevalence of Obesity among Indians between 2019 and 2022.

o   Obesity has seen an uptick in diagnosis in those less than 45 years of age by 43% and by 60% in people over the age of 45.

·         Dyslipidemia or Cholesterol irregularities has seen an 18% increase in prevalence among Indians between 2019 and 2022

o   This is also fueled by a significant increase in its prevalence among those over 45 years of age by more than 35%

Along with these early risk factors, we also see a rise in the prevalence of conditions like Diabetes and Hypertension.

·         Diabetes and Hypertension diagnosis have seen an 8% and 11% increase respectively between 2019-22

o    There is also an increasing risk of Hypertension amongst Indians over 45 years, its prevalence in diagnosis having increased from 14% to 16% in the last 3 years.

o    Chronic stress and anxiety increase the risk of incidence of hypertension by 1.5X and diabetes by up to 2X. Men with chronic stress have double the risk of incidence of diabetes than women.

We administered the PHQ9 Depression Questionnaire for about 2000 people with Type 2 Diabetes at Apollo Hospitals to understand their Mind Health status. Our analysis showed that with every one unit increase in age and BMI, PHQ9 the depression score also increases. About 50% had some form depression, and Diabetes along with any weight related comorbidity is an indicator to screen for depression.

·         The report also puts the spotlight on the importance of getting more frequent or extended health tests for conditions that are prevalent in our families

o    The report finds that Diabetes is prevalent in 1 in 3 people with a history of the condition in their family.

·         Healthy sleep is an important indicator of overall health.

o   In one study with 20,000 people, 47% have sleep problems and 52% have impairments in their mind health state, and 1 in 3 have both issues.

o   2 out of 3 individuals do not have an optimal gap between dinner and bedtime, which is critical for good quality sleep. It is either less than 1 hour or more than 2 hours, both scenarios leading to sub optimal sleep quality.

·         Impaired metabolism is also closely linked with digestive irregularities, such as gas/bloating, heaviness post-meal, burning sensation, belch/burp. The analysis found that 64% of people had digestive irregularities, going up to 81% amongst diabetics.

Many ‘Indias’ in one India

Our diversity in lifestyle has led to the emergence of different NCD trends across regions, likely impacted by our regional diet preferences.

·         While liver diseases saw maximum prevalence in East (at 50%), its lowest impact relatively is in the South (28%)

·         West has seen the least relatively the lowest prevalence of diabetes (15%) while South has the highest (27%)

·         Obesity trends have been similar across regions, ranging between 22-24%

·         Dyslipidemia (cholesterol) has the highest prevalence across all regions, with North seeing the most (48%), followed by West (41%), East (39%) and then South (37%).

Power of prevention

The silent epidemic of NCDs is behind 40% of all hospital stays. While there is an increase in Indians taking preventive screenings, these are still largely symptom led. Regular and comprehensive health checks, starting at a young age, can significantly reduce mortality rates, disease incidence as well as the frequency of hospital visits through our lifespan.

There is also a need to reimagine preventive health assessments and design them to be more suitable to the Indian population.

For instance:

·         The median age of breast cancer diagnosis from mammograms done at Apollo in the last year was 54-57 years; lower than that seen in mature markets (where the median age of detection is 62-65 years). This suggests an earlier onset of disease in Indian women, warranting annual screening for women from 40 years onwards.

o   According to clinically published sources, early diagnosis through preventive checks of breast cancer can reduce mortality rates by up to 30%.

·         Undetected sleep disorders often lead to chronic health conditions due to late diagnosis and oversight by the healthcare systems

o   Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is known to increase the risk of heart problems, and is often screened only in the obese (BMI > 30) and with neck circumference > 40cm

o   Apollo’s study of people with Type 2 suggests that intermediate to high risk of OSA occurs even at a lower BMI (26) in the population screened, with a majority (91%) having a neck circumference < 40cm, thus highlighting the need to screen for OSA rigorously, irrespective of the BMI, especially for high-risk cohorts like patients with Diabetes.

Enhanced ‘ProHealth’ by Apollo

In a bid to strengthen the preventive healthcare ecosystem, Apollo has launched an enhanced ProHealth, India’s most individualized preventive health program that brings together the power of AI to help individuals stay ahead of potential NCDs. Combined with Apollo’s pioneering experience of 40 years, the healthcare group has developed new technologies based on AI and ML for predicting risk scores and developing structured lifestyle programs with new models of care that lead to improved clinical outcomes.

What differentiates ProHealth:

1.       ProHealth is a 100% doctor designed health program

2.       It creates a first-of-its-kind health profile that determines the areas of concerns and custom designs a unique health check for every individual

3.       It integrates predictive health metrics through a sophisticated AI engine to determine potential areas of prevention

4.       In addition to the results, every individual also has access to health mentors to transform their lifestyle and make the program truly preventive in every sense

Technology is transforming the approach for dealing with health risks and enabling early detection, and therefore must be integrated in preventive screenings. With a firm belief that AI and big data will play a key role in predicting risks and delivering personalized health solutions, Apollo’s ProHealth today is India’s most individualized preventive health program. Apollo also strongly believes that a laundry list of tests is not an effective solution to get to the root of the problem. For instance, there is a clear data-driven correlation between diabetes-obstructive sleep apnea-heart problems OR weight related comorbidities & depression, however generic health checks are unable to deduce these. The need of the hour is true personalization and prediction, which forms the foundation of Apollo ProHealth. Additionally, by offering convenient access to health mentors as a part of ProHealth, every individual is empowered to take charge of their own health and create a long-term and permanent impact in the battle over NCDs.

Apollo ProHealth is backed by a predictive algorithm that captures one’s health status, predicts potential health risks and individualizes every health check. A personal health risk assessment is digitally available to every individual, post which they can visit the nearest Apollo facility to them to conduct the set of customized tests recommended for them.

As per an announcement recently by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Jindal Steel & Power, led by Shri Naveen Jindal, has been declared as the winner in the category of ‘CSR in Aspirational Districts / Difficult Terrains’ (Eastern India) and ‘Contribution in National Priority Areas’ (Support to differently-abled). JSP has been selected for this coveted award after a rigorous three-stage selection process initiated by the Ministry based on its prescribed systems of nominations by various Ministries, State Govt, three eminent Professional Institutes in India and Industry & Trade Chambers followed by Field verification and Grand Jury evaluation.

Commenting on the development, Chairman, JSP, Shri Naveen Jindal said, “We at JSP pursue Industry led inclusive development of our Nation partnering with the People and caring for the Planet. We have been implementing multidimensional Social development programmes under our CSR to improve the Quality of Life of the Community sustainably in the geography of our operational locations and beyond. The National CSR Award by the Ministry of Corporate Affair to JSP under two categories is indeed recognition of our philosophy of Passion for People. For us, it is always People First “.

Expressing her gratitude to the Government of India for recognizing Jindal Steel & Power with the National CSR Award, Smt. Shallu Jindal, Chairperson of JSP Foundation said, “We are humbled and encouraged that the Government of India has awarded us the highest recognition for our CSR programmes. As we emerge from the pandemic world, we are more aware of the crisis and needs that we are facing at various levels, in health, education, society and climate.

All our Programmes are completely aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and aim to develop a more equitable and developed balance for the people in this country. This award will continue to motivate us to accelerate our efforts in implementing sustainable and inclusive development programmes across India.”

WADI, one of the innovative projects by JSP reviewed for the National CSR Award is an Agro Horti Silvipasture-based project implemented on 500 acres of hilly land benefiting the tribal populace of Chhattisgarh’s Tamnar block in Raigarh district. Under JSP Foundation’s Project Sneh, JSP has significantly contributed to major reduction of malnutrition in more than 1200 Children in Pallahara block in Angul district of Odisha. Both these interventions were reviewed in the multilayer selection process for the National CSR Award in the category of ‘CSR in Aspirational Districts / Difficult Terrains’ (Eastern India) apart from the Project Vastalya to control IMR and MMR and other projects of women empowerment in the tribal predominant region of Tamnar. Similarly the JSP’s flagship programme ‘Asha the Hope’ was reviewed for the award in the category of ‘Contribution in National Priority Areas’ (Support to differently-abled). Through this project, implemented under the umbrella support of JSP Foundation, the company works for the rehabilitation and empowerment of differently abled, particularly people in the formative age group.

Through its CSR arm JSP Foundation, JSP has been implementing multi-faceted sustainable social development initiatives around its operational areas in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand as well as across India with focus on consistent Improvement of the Human Development Index and associated socio-economic development measures in rural and tribal areas.  This is the announcement of CSR award for 2020 . The awards announced for the very first year of the award in 2019 was delivered by the HE President of India in Vigyan Bhawan , New Delhi.

 In an exemplary heroic and humanitarian act of nobility, a family which lost a young member to brain stroke decided to donate his organs to save several lives. Jayeshbhai Patel aged 35 years, was a factory worker. While working he collapsed and moving through various hospitals, the patient was brought to Marengo CIMS hospital where he was declared “Brain-dead”.

The family rose above their grief and sorrow to embrace humanity and donate the deceased family member’s organs to save four lives and restore the sight of one. One kidney, two lungs, two corneas and one liver were retrieved. Post the retrieval process, the organs were reached to patients over four states. This was a show of immense courage and strength by the family to restore faith in humanity. At Marengo Asia Healthcare, we believe every minute counts, every life matters. The importance of timely decisions taken in organ donation is paramount in contributing significantly to saving lives.

With Marengo CIMS Hospital armed with multiple organ transplant programs such as heart, lungs, kidney, and liver, the hospital is fast emerging as a preferred destination for organ transplants in India.

Dr Raajiv Singhal, Founding Member, MD & CEO, Marengo Asia Healthcare said, “Marengo Asia Healthcare expresses our heartfelt gratitude to the patient’s family who went beyond their intense grief to think of several other patients whose lives could be saved by their act of organ donation. Our gratitude to many more such families who overcome their sorrow to save many lives by donating organs of their deceased family member. Many patients die every year due to lack of organ donation. Organ donation can save 500,000 lives in India each year. When families come forward with such humanitarian act, the fact that organ donation is picking up is reiterated. We encourage people to become a part of such humanitarian acts that can save thousands of lives every year.”

The patient’s family said, “We realized the enormity of the number of lives that could be saved with this simple act of organ donation. We are encouraged by the fact that Jayeshbhai Patel will live through the people who have received his organs.”

With increased organ donation we can save more and more lives. India happens to be one of the top countries in organ transplant in the world and yet, we lag our western counterparts. In India, a huge disparity between demand of organs for saving lives and the organs donated is witnessed consistently. The increasing numbers in organ donation in India is just about picking up, the awareness having been low and other reasons working as deterrents being religious beliefs, spiritual beliefs, and a negative mindset towards organ donation. The recent increase has been an outcome of increased awareness on the noble act.

Allo Health , India’s first digital health clinic for sexual wellness, announced the appointment of a technology leader Gaurav Gupta, as the CTO. In his new role, Gaurav will be responsible for leading and spearheading new efforts to build the holistic care platform and scaling the business.

Prior to this, Gaurav led the Labs and Billing team at Carbon Health, a chain of modern full-stack primary and urgent care clinics in the USA. Before Carbon, Gaurav was the CTO and Founding engineer at Eligible Inc, New York City, USA. Eligible provides a platform to securely process all insurance billing transactions, which powers some of the most innovative and advanced healthcare providers in the USA. As the CSO and security lead at Eligible, he extensively contributed to building highly available, scalable, reliable, secure, and HIPAA-compliant tech infrastructures. He was also instrumental in category expansion, automation in retail, and monetizing image inventory systems at Amazon. He was also part of the IBM Tivoli Solutions team, where he architected three solutions and published a patent with the US patent Office.

Speaking on the appointment, Pranay Jivrajka, CEO – Allo Health said, “I am thrilled to have Gaurav join the team. His appointment comes at a time when Healthcare technology is rapidly changing the ways patients receive care in India. His experience in building and scaling world-class technology teams will be enormously helpful in creating a user-first platform that makes sexual wellness care accessible to all. Welcoming Gaurav to embrace the new wave of digital care delivery with Allo Health.”

Speaking on his appointment, Gaurav Gupta, CTO, Allo Health said, “Allo Health is revolutionizing the way Sexual wellness care is delivered by bringing doctors, operators, and engineers under one roof. The numerous taboos and discourses associated with sexual wellness in India prevent people from seeking help or even talking about it. We had our first baby through IVF last year, and since then, my wife and I have been raising awareness and breaking taboos associated with fertility treatment. I always wanted to return to India and improve healthcare discovery, delivery, and management here. I am thrilled to be a part of a team working relentlessly to bring a paradigm shift in care delivery through advanced technologies and services. We aim to normalize sexual wellness and make it accessible to all. I am ecstatic to join Allo Health and do my bit in building India’s first digital health clinic for sexual wellness.”

Gaurav’s appointment underscores Allo Health’s mission to normalise sexual wellness for all and make sexual health care delivery accessible to all through technology. He is a graduate of IIT Varanasi with a recognized track record of conceptualising and realising scalable solutions across various industries like Health Tech, E-commerce, Tech Corps to name a few .