New Delhi|Ekta
All India Institute of Medical Science demands to include Lupus (autoimmune disease), in the Health Ministry’s list of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), so that the government’s focus on it gets intensified and the treatment becomes cost-effective.
According, to Dr Uma Kumar, the Head of the Department of Rheumatology, AIIMS although a high burden of the disease, awareness about lupus is dismal among public, policy makers and even physicians in our country.
“Even the World Health Organisation, which monitors prevalence of chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes mellitus, does not mention lupus. So there is an urgent need to spread awareness about it,” Kumar added.
Around 20 per cent of all patients who visit the out patient departments (OPDs) of Rheumatology department suffer from lupus and still people do not even know what are the basic factors that triggers the disease, resulting in deformity and irreversible organ damage Dr.Kumar told Healthlive.
“Patients require lifelong treatment once they get lupus and sometimes the patient does not respond to the first line drugs. In such cases second line drugs which include biological agents have to be administered and here the cost goes up very high.
“Diseases under the Health Ministry’s NCD list have special programmes and thus lupus should be included in the list. If the disease gets included in the list of NCDs, one can get the medicines at subsidised rates and also get the insurance benefit if governments wants ” Kumar said.
While talking with Healthlive Dr.Kumar said “it’s a challenge for us to include lupus in NCD, but not impossible, it is our responsibility”
An estimated five million people worldwide have lupus and it is more common in women who are in their reproductive age group of 20-40 years.
The disease can damage any organ from skin to kidneys, heart etc. Though the exact cause of Lupus is not documented the factors that jointly contribute to occurrence of the disease are ultra violet rays, air pollution, genetical issues, toxic substances like pesticides, vitamin D deficiency and environment.
Symptoms of lupus include prolonged fever, oral ulcers, excessive hair fall, skin rashes and joint pains.
Lupus is more common in females compare to males.
