A silent crisis

Years of undernutrition and a heavy reliance on rice, supplied through public distribution system, could be fuelling diabetes among tribal population

-  TARAN DEOL

NIRASIYA BAI'S three sons are used to their mother fainting every other week. They keep pieces of shakkar (jaggery) handy and place it swiftly under her tongue, every time she feels dizzy or is on the verge of collapse. In March alone, she fainted thrice. The 52-year-old resident of Shivtarai village in Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur district suffers from diabetes. In 2010, when she was diagnosed with the condition, her blood sugar levels were well beyond the normal range —297 milligrams per decilitre (mg/ dl) in fasting and 361 mg/dl, two hours after food. When Down To Earth (DTE) met Nirasiya in March, her blood sugar levels were under control. But she appeared frail and lacked energy to participate even in the routine agricultural activities she used to do until a few years ago.

DTE visited other families in this village of Gond tribal community, and almost every other household had a similar story to narrate. The situation appears no better in neighbouring villages of Shivtarai in Kota block. Data shared by the district's health office shows that the community health centre (CHC) at Kota has diagnosed 922 new diabetes patients between April 2022 and February 2023. As many as 1,063 people have also been found suffering from hypertension.

What is even more perplexing is that Kota, as informed by Anil Kumar Shriwastawa, chief medical and health officer of Bilaspur, is home to a majority of the district's tribal population, and non-communicable diseases (NCDS) like diabetes have so far been believed to be rare among these communities.