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India needs a cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) model to deal with its non-communicable disease burden

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The panel discussion titled 'Diabetes as an interlinked disease: The CKM approach to NCDs. Decoding India's NCD burden' focused on one of India's rapidly evolving health challenges. Moderated by Pooja Biraia, THE WEEK's Principal Correspondent, the session brought together Dr Pankaj Bhardwaj, director of ICMR-NIIRNCD; Dr Rajesh Khadgawat, professor of endocrinology at AIIMS; and Dr Naveen Garg, professor of cardiology at SGPGIMS Lucknow, who collectively argued that the cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) model offers India a more effective path to address noncommunicable diseases. Excerpts:

Pooja Biraia/ Let us start with the exhaustive study done by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which highlights how bad the situation really is. Please tell us about the study, how it started and what the findings are.

Dr Pankaj Bhardwaj/ This study was started in 2008 at the national level. It is a large study where entire states were covered in a phase-wise manner, and screening was done in individuals above 20. The sample size was around 1,13,000, and the data that was generated was quite surprising. It says that diabetes in India is currently at 11 per cent, but that ranges from states like Uttar Pradesh, where it is 4 or 5 per cent to places like Goa, where it is 10 per cent. Interestingly, one aspect we looked at was abdominal obesity. When we say obesity, it is just about BMI, but when it comes to cardiometabolic kidney problems, then it is more about abdominal obesity. So though obesity it 29 per cent in India, abdominal obesity is 39 per cent.