Hypertension killed 6K in city in 2016

NEW DELHI: The highest number of institutional deaths in 2016 in Delhi have occurred from hypertension, said a report on the state of health in the city, released by Praja Foundation, on Monday.

Out of the total 90,517 institutional deaths in 2016, the highest number of deaths have occurred from hypertension (6,853), which is almost a 76 per cent increase from 2015.

Tuberculosis caused 4,350 deaths, followed by diabetes at 1,762 in the same year.

Institutional deaths refer to the deaths that happen in any government or private health unit. On an average, 60 per cent of the total deaths are institutional deaths in Delhi from 2001-2016.

The report also said that on an average, from last four years, diarrhoea was the leading health issue with the highest number of cases, followed by hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis, and typhoid.

The data for the report was obtained by Praja Foundation through RTIs and online medical certification of cause of deaths (MCCD) reports by the Delhi government. It had also commissioned Hansa Research to conduct a survey in 2018 across the city with a total sample size of 28,624 households.

The information received under RTI from various government institutions shows that dengue cases in Delhi were 7,153 and 4,205 of malaria, while the survey data across all 12 zones in the city showed that the cases of dengue were as high as 1,06,456 and cases of malaria were 1,26,334.

“There’s an increase in complaints relating to ‘dirty water (water contamination)’ which rose from 27,227 in 2015 to 33,884 in 2017, a 24 per cent increase.

One can clearly see how contamination of water has deprived the citizens of their basic right to clean water supply,” said Milind Mhaske, director at Praja Foundation.