Non-communicable diseases, affluance and gender

Abstract

The present study addresses the following questions: (i) whether the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) has shifted to the older men and women? (ii) whether the The analysis is based on the 60th and 71st rounds of the National Sample Survey (NSS) for 2004 and 2014. Even though we have relied on comparisons of prevalence and shares between men and women, some glaring disparities emerge. The growing menace of NCDs in a context of rapidly increasing old population calls for bold policy initiatives. Although such initiatives are not lacking, they are either underfunded or limited in coverage and uncoordinated. Whether the PMJAY, arguably the most ambitious social health insurance (SHI) programme ever launched anywhere in the world, is mere election rhetoric or a substantive scheme is hard to assess. Not just a drastic overhaul of the health system is emphasised but also behavioural changes in diets and life styles are recommended.