PANAJI
The Directorate of Health Services is in the process of commissioning a 10-year study of a sample size of 1.2 lakh people residing in the State aimed at identifying common causes that lead to major non-communicable diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.
One of the objectives of the study is to scrutinize the contributory role of genetics and lifestyle habits in these diseases inflicting people. The role of the environment, rather than pollution in contributing to the subjects being inflicted with these diseases will also be studied.
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said the study will help the health authorities in drawing up long-term strategies for the management and control of such non-communicable diseases in Goa in the future.
Rane said Goa has an alarmingly high obesity rate of 48.1 per cent, alcoholism rate of 39.4 per cent and hypertension rate of 28 per cent, which necessitates this long-term study to assess the causes of these diseases and devise preventive strategies.
The Health Department has therefore decided to conduct the Goa Cohort Assessment of Risk and Epidemiology of NCDs (Goa CARE Study), he said.
"The study will screen 1,20,000 individuals across urban and rural regions over the next decade. The research will analyze genetic, lifestyle and environmental influences on NCD progression and will provide critical insights for effective interventions and policy planning in Goa," Rane said.
