PESHAWAR: Hypertension is more prevalent in women than men while diabetes is found more in male than female, warranting screening, prevention and treatment to tackle the triple burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases and disabilities, according to a research study.

The study titled “Burden of communicable, non-communicable diseases and disabilities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan” was published in PLOS ONE, a US-based medical journal. It says that Pakistan is facing a triple burden of ailments including communicable diseases (CDs), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and disabilities.

There is limited evidence on the patterns of these diseases in Pakistan, specifically in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and there remains limited study on the impact of sex, age and setting-stratified morbidities in the province.

The study was designed and supervised by Prof Ziaul Haq, professor of public health and vice-chancellor of Khyber Medical University (KMU) Peshawar, and conducted by population welfare department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with financial support of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Suggests screening, prevention and treatment to reduce burden of diseases

Co-authored by Dr Saima Afaq from University of York, UK, it says that half of the women are either pre-obese or obese compared to 33 per cent men.

Results with regard to all NCDs, hypertension has the highest prevalence (29.2pc), showing a significant difference between women (32.7pc) and men (25.0pc). The proportion of males and females with diabetes was found 7.4pc and 5.2pc, respectively, with a more substantial percentage (11.2pc) observed in the 50 years’ age group compared to 2.5pc in the 18-29 years’ age group and 5pc in the 30-49 years’ age group.

However, these are self-reported doctor-diagnosed cases and the prevalence might be double when unknown cases were included, said Prof Ziaul Haq.

As far CDs, hepatitis B and C (0.5pc and 0.8pc, respectively) are most prevalent with Hepatitis B more common in females (0.8pc) and in rural settings (0.6pc) compared to males (0.3pc) and urban settings (0.2pc), respectively.

The prevalence of congenital disabilities is the highest of all disabilities, with a significantly high prevalence in females (5.3pc) and rural settings (3.5pc) compared to males (0.9pc) and urban settings (0.6pc), respectively.

The study has concluded that the prevalence of CDs, NCDs and disabilities varies across sex, age and settings, with a notable prevalence in females and the old-age population.

The results emphasise the necessity of public health efforts such as screening, prevention and treatment to tackle the triple burden of CDs, NCDs, and disabilities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

It says that the double burden of CDs and NCDs is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide, affecting both developed and developing countries. However, developing countries are particularly vulnerable due to a range of factors such as geographic, demographic and socioeconomic disparities.

The burden of CDs and NCDs is significantly associated with economic and social development worldwide, hindering progress, posing threats to international health security and imposing significant financial burdens on health systems.

CDs have always been a major public health concern in low and middle income countries. In 2019, CDs accounted for 18pc of global deaths, with Pakistan contributing approximately 39pc of these deaths.

Diarrhoeal diseases, lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis (TB), malaria and human immunodeficiency (HIV)/Aids remain in the top 10 causes of death globally. Worldwide, Pakistan is the fourth highest country in prevalence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

In Pakistan, an estimated 11pc of adult population is infected with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), making it the second largest country in the prevalence of HCV globally, which increases the risk of chronic liver disease and cancer.

The prevalence of HIV/Aids in general population in Pakistan remains below one per cent. The objective of the research study was to present demographic characteristics and burden of locally-specific CDs, including hepatitis B and C, TB and Aids and NCDs including diabetes, renal diseases, asthma, epilepsy, coronary heart diseases, cancer, hypertension, cholesterol, thalassaemia and disabilities (congenital, post-disease and post-injury paralysis).

This cross-sectional survey was conducted in 24 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on population ageing 18 years. A total of 20,704 respondents participated in the study.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2025