Replaying to a question on non-communicable diseases in the Lok Sabha today, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "So far, 61.16 lakh people have been screened for diabetes and hypertension out of which 4,58,469 people are suspected to be diabetic and 3,71,004 people are suspected to be suffering from hypertension."
He said the Government had launched a National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases & Stroke (NPCDCS) in 2010 to cover 100 districts in 21 states during 2010 to 2012 and screening of population aged 30 years and above and all pregnant mothers for early detection of suspected cases of diabetes and hypertension is part of the programme.
The minister said extension of the programme to cover all districts in a phased manner and strengthen the tertiary cancer care facilities are envisaged during 12th Five Year Plan.
In reply to another question, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Sudip Bandyopadhyay said over 207.55 lakh pregnant women and over 147.69 lakh children have been registered under the Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) as on May 1, 2012.
The system, he said, generates daily, weekly and monthly work plan for the Auxiliary Nurse Midwives and communicates it through SMS. SMS alerts are also sent to the beneficiaries.
All the states/UTs have started using the SMS feature of the Mother & Child Tracking System portal.
