The Evaluation of National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease and Stroke (NPCDCS) in Kashmir

Aim: To monitor and evaluate the NPCDCS programme and examining the infrastructure and human resource management of this programme Methodology: Secondary data was collected from NPCDCS Kashmir and analysis was done on the generated secondary data for FY April 2018 – March 2019, FY April 2019 – March 2020 and FY April 2020 – March 2021. Study population was the patients enrolled in the NPCDCS Programme during FY April 2018 – March 2019, FY April 2019 – March 2020 and FY April 2020 – March 2021 in Kashmir. Permission was taken from the NPCDCS administration along with ethical approval from the ethics committee. Evaluation of NPCDCS Organizational structure, Infrastructure including human resources was done by visiting the NCD cells of some the districts of Kashmir. Results: The study was done on 3 financial years i.e., 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21. The data presents the prevalence of Diabetes, Hypertension, CVD’s, Stroke and Cancers. The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension were increasing alarmingly in these 3 years. Counseling was going in higher rates till 2019-20 but there was a sudden drop in the rate of counseling sessions due to Covid 19 pandemic situation in the year 2020-21. Conclusion: The NPCDCS programme focused on awareness for behavioral and life style modifications. The infrastructure and human resource system is well developed. Many cases which couldn’t be reached out and were hidden were diagnosed by the help of camps and regular OPD’s at NCD cells. In a long run it will be very beneficial as the burden of diseases will be reduced to some extent. As seen in the data, the cancer detection is not as it is desired to be. The early screening for oral cancers in males and breast and cervical cancer in females should be achieved through awareness campaigns to make NPCDCS programme more successful.