Burden of noncommunicable diseases and implementation challenges of National NCD Programmes in India

Abstract Background Out of the total deaths globally, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) account for 72% of the deaths. In India, as per the global burden of disease 2016 estimates, NCDs contributed to 62% of the deaths and 55% of the disability-adjusted life years, thereby posing a huge burden. Before 2010, there was no integrated programme, which addresses these NCDs, but there were many programmes parallelly running and catering to different aspects of these NCDs. Now almost 13 programmes are directly or indirectly contributing to the NCD prevention and control with many implementation challenges. Methods A review on the status of NCD burden estimates globally and nationally was undertaken. The National NCD Programme and other strategies associated with addressing the NCDs were searched using the search engines PubMed and Google Scholar along with the websites of national ministries, government portals and meeting proceedings. Results Health is a state subject, with National Health Mission (NRHM/NUHM) as a flagship programme of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. There are 13 programmes contributing to NCD prevention and control directly or indirectly and the major one is the National Programme for prevention and control of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke (NPCDCS). The other initiatives taken for NCD prevention and control include the National Action Plan to achieve NCD targets by 2025 and development of Multisectoral Action Plan (2017–2022). The infrastructure for NPCDCS includes 524 district NCD cells, 565 district NCD clinics, 167 district cardiac care units, 164 district day care centres and 2759 Community Health Centre NCD clinics. The key challenges are with trained human resources for the screening of the NCDs, low budget allocation and utilisation, lack of access to diagnostics and regular supply of essential medicines. There is also poor focus on health promotion, multisectoral participation, surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of the programme at different levels of health care delivery. Conclusion The government has taken different initiatives for the prevention and control but effective implementation is the major challenge in India. A health system strengthening with focus on health promotion in different settings, robust surveillance and access to individual clinical services is required. Collaborations with ministries, multisectoral approach, strengthening of referral system along with involvement/training of grassroot level workers who efficiently implement are needed. Bolstering of screening, diagnostic and treatment service will be fruitful.