All that was discussed in the House through the day
The estimated number of diabetes patients in the 20-79 age group is 74.2 millions in 2021 and is likely to increase to 124.8 millions in 2045, said Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health And Family Welfare to the Lok Sabha December 3, 2021. He was quoting from the Diabetes Atlas 2021 of the International Diabetes Federation.
200 silicosis deaths in a decade
As many as 340 workers across the country have been identified as suffering from silicosis / pneumoconiosis in 10 years till March 8, 2018, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha, the minister added.
Close to 200 workers had died of these conditions during that decade, Mandaviya said.
Communicable diseases on the rise in tribal areas
Tribal people face a triple burden of diseases and a disproportionate burden of communicable diseases, primarily those that are often referred to as diseases of poverty and underdevelopment, said Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for health and family welfare at the Lok Sabha. She was citing a recent report by the Expert Committee on Tribal Health.
The diseases include malaria and tuberculosis.
Rapid urbanization, environmental distress and changing lifestyle have resulted in a rise in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases like cancer, hypertension and diabetes as well, according to the minister.
Pattern of dengue, malaria, zika cases
In 2021, a total of 164,103 dengue cases have been reported in India till November 21, as against 205,243 in 2019, Pawar noted.
The case fatality rate due to the disease has been consistently below 1 per cent since 2008. It had reduced 0.2 per cent in 2018 and plateaued at 0.1 per cent since 2019, she added.
Accordingly, it cannot be said that dengue cases are rising in the country, the minister told the Lok Sabha.
Dengue and malaria cases are reported in the monsoon and post-monsoon period and decline with the onset of winter, Pawar said.
Zika outbreaks have been reported in 2021 in Kerala, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh with 83, 1 and 149 cases, respectively, till November 27, 2021, said Pawar.
“The government has sent central teams to all these states for initiating control and preventive measures,” she added.
The teams have worked with the state and district authorities to implement zika containment plans according to the Union health ministry’s guidelines, the minister added.
Starvation ranking
India's ranked 101 in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 presented by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. Nepal and Bangladesh both ranked 76 and Pakistan ranked 92, said Niranjan Jyoti, Union Minister of state for rural development and consumer affairs, food and public distribution at the Rajya Sabha.
The composite GHI score of India improved to 27.5 from 38.8 in 2000, she added.
Impact of climate change on agriculture
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare studied the impact of climate change on agriculture. The analysis, which used an integrated simulation modelling framework, was a part of the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture project.
The results indicate that in the absence of adoption of adaptation measures, the projected changes in climate is likely to reduce rainfed rice yields by 20 per cent in 2050 and 47 per cent in 2080, irrigated rice yields by 3.5 per cent in 2050 and 5 per cent in 2080, wheat yield by 19.3 per cent in 2050 and 40 per cent in 2080 and kharif maize yields by 18-23 per cent in 2050, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister Of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare told the Rajya Sabha.
Damage to crops due to unseasonal rains
Around 5 million hectares of agricultural area has been affected due to cyclonic storm / flash floods / floods / landslides / cloudburst in 2021, according to state reports till November 25, Tomar said.
Out of 180.9 million hectares of cultivable land in the country during the period 2018-19, 71.5 million was the net irrigated area, according to the publication on Land Use Statistics 2018-19 (latest available), Tomar told Rajya Sabha.
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