Chronic diseases........

The global prevalence of all the leading chronic diseases is increasing, with the majority occuring in developing countries and projected to increase substantially over the next 2 decades . Cardiovascular disease is already the leading cause of mortality in developing countries. Risks for chronic disease are also escalating. Smoking prevalence and obesity levels among adolescents in developing countries have risen over the past decade and portend rapid increases in chronic diseases. Strong beliefs persist that chronic diseases afflict only the affluent and the elderly, that they arise solely from freely acquired risks, and that their control is ineffective and too expensive and should wait until infectious diseases are addressed. Hence a change in stakeholders approach is required. People who take decisions about handling chronic diseases need to be provided with adequate evidence that this is a key area where funds need to be directed.

Compliance remains an important issue when tackling chronic disease. It is not easy to obtain good compliance. It is one thing instructing somebody to do things differently and another actually following the advise. There need to be ways to tackle compliance at a personal and professional level.

Follow up of patients with chronic disease is a herculean task. Our health care systems are not designed in such a way to maintain strict follow up of patients with chronic disease and this is another area where efforts directed could bring in dramatic changes in disease prevalence.

Patients suffering from chronic diseases require long term prescription drugs , sometimes lifelong. These medications need to be more affordable.

At last chronic diseases require more than just a physician, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychiatrists have a key role to play. A multidisciplinary approach is required on a dedicated basis to treat these patients.

Needless to say prevention tops the list, if a family has a known history of a chronic disease, individuals in that family should be given the education to equip themselves to avoid risk factors that could prevent them from developing the disease.