Hypertension a major cause for concern

Hyderabad : A "Media Dialogue on Hypertension Management and Elimination of Trans Fatty Acids" was held here on Wednesday. The need of the hour was to "fight against non-communicable diseases and trans fatty acids," experts said, adding that trans fatty acids are bad cholesterol made through the chemical process of hydrogenation of oils

• Out of 85 lakh people screened in the State, 10-12% are found to be having hypertension

• 20 % of the T population has hypertension.

• The State government in the past 5 years has spent Rs 4,000 crore in managing various diseases

Senior bureaucrats from the State government and experts from institutions like NIMS, FSSAI, NIN, CallHealth, Apollo, Virinchi Hospitals participated and spoke on the occasion.

Speaking on elimination of trans fatty acids, Dr K Shankar, Director, Food Safety, said strict implementation of regulations of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) can sharply reduce heart diseases caused by TFAs in foods. Further, he informed that they were planning to bring out dietary guidelines with an aim to reduce trans fatty acids, salt and sugar in commercially available food in Telangana.

"We have trained more than 2,000 street food vendors in food safety training and certification. And are planning to train 10,000 food vendors in 2019.

The health problems associated with trans-fats include increase in the level of bad cholesterol (LDL); increased risk of heart diseases; increase in body weight, risk of insulin resistance, risk of developing certain types of cancers and others, Dr Shankar stated.

Delivering key note address on "Telangana's commitment to fighting non-communicable diseases", A Shanti Kumari, Principal Secretary, Health, Family Welfare and Food Safety Commissioner, said the three-pronged approach, comprising early screening through outreach followed by a dispensation of secondary and tertiary medical care adopted by the State government proved effective in managing hypertension.

"We have screened 85 lakh people in the State of which 10 to 12% are found to be having hypertension. KCR Kit is a beautifully designed scheme. Through this, we have covered lakh people under this scheme. Govt has spent Rs 800 crore on this flagship program", she informed.

Dr (Col) M Sitaram, senior consultant, cardiology, Apollo Hospitals, said hypertension accounts for 57% stroke-related deaths. According to Big BP Study, the prevalence of Hypertension in India is 29.7%. 42.9% of young in the age group of 18 to 19 years are suffering from pre-hyper tension. 17.6% of global Hypertension burden is in India.