Non-communicable diseases like diabetes, respiratory diseases, cancer and heart disease are taking a severe toll on public health. Countries are developing multisectoral plans, carrying out health promotion campaigns, and curtailing exposure to risk factors like alcohol and tobacco to address this. Primary care facilities are better equipped to provide holistic patient-centered care for preventing and managing NCDs in an equitable way by enhancing access. To bring NCD care to the primary level, national policies must prioritize primary care in NCD action plans. Healthcare workers must be trained, essential medicines and technologies must be available, and funding mechanisms put in place.

1. LEVERAGING PRIMARY CARE
(GS PAPER-1)
ISSUES RELATING TO DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH
THE HINDU-OPINION

2. Non-communicable diseases (NCD) & Steps
taken by countries
 Diabetes, Respiratory diseases, Cancer and Heart diseases are examples of NCD.
 Severe toll on public health across the WHO South-East Asia Region.
What Steps have been taken by Countries to safeguard NCD?
 Multisectoral plans are being developed;
 health promotion campaigns are being carried out;
 exposure to NCD risk factors such as alcohol and tobacco are being curtailed.
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3. Ensures equity
 Health authorities have the opportunity to ensure appropriate services are provided to the
right people, at the right place and at the right time
 Primary health facilities are not only better equipped to provide the holistic, patient-centred
focus that preventing and managing an NCD requires, but they can also enhance equity and
access to NCD care — an aim central to the Sustainable Development Goals.
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4. STEPS TO BE TAKEN TO BRING NCD CARE
 First, national health and development policies must be recalibrated. This means putting the primary health
approach front and centre of national NCD action plans, as well as drafting and implementing a range of supporting
protocols, from clear policies outlining the spectrum of primary-level NCD services to well-defined diagnostic and
treatment guidelines.
 Second, health-care workers at the primary level must be given the knowledge and skills to provide NCD and
associated risk factor care.
 Third, the availability of generic essential medicines and basic technologies for NCD management must be
guaranteed at the primary level. To do so, procurement policies must be reviewed and essential medicine lists
updated. Every person suffering from diabetes, for example, must be able to access a blood glucose meter at his or
her local health-care provider, just as all persons suffering from a respiratory disease should be able to access the
technologies and medicines that ensure they can breathe easy.
 Finally, health authorities must put in place funding mechanisms to facilitate primary-level NCD care. While shifting
NCD care to the primary level will reduce health system expenditures overall, not to mention out-of-pocket costs
borne by patients, making this possible nonetheless requires effective budget allocations and robust planning. At
the same time, increased taxation of health-damaging commodities such as tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods
and beverages should be considered, both as a means to diminish demand for these products as well as to increase
revenue for NCD prevention and control.
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