Thiruvananthapuram, June 27,2025: Amid rising cases of diabetes, over 5 crore Indians remain undiagnosed, prompting urgent calls for regular screening and lifestyle changes.
India faces an alarming diabetes prevalence of 11.4 per cent, with over 10 crore people currently living with the condition, Dr Naresh Purohit, Advisor for the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Diabetes, said.
Quoting his recent scientific report published in the Australian Journal of Public Health, acclaimed physician pointed out that God’s own country, ‘Kerala’, is witnessing a dramatic demographic shift in the surge of Type 2 diabetes in children.
“Once primarily associated with adults over 40, this disease is now increasingly affecting children as young as 10. It is now a public health crisis,” he said.
“This condition poses a major risk to young lives and will have severe consequences unless parents take immediate action to improve their children’s lifestyles, he cautioned.
“Diabetes results from the body’s impaired ability to metabolise carbohydrates due to insulin insufficiency or resistance, causing elevated blood sugar levels and serious complications like heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and neuropathy. While type 2 diabetes accounts for over 90 per cent of cases, other forms such as type 1 and gestational diabetes also pose risks, he explained.
He emphasised that symptoms often remain vague, making early screening crucial to prevent disease progression. There is an urgent need for increased awareness and routine blood sugar testing, especially among high-risk groups, he added.
He recommended lifestyle interventions including regular moderate exercise, dietary changes focusing on higher protein and fibre intake, weight reduction, proper sleep, stress management, and avoiding smoking.
For those diagnosed with diabetes, regular medical follow-up and controlling HbA1c levels below 7 per cent are vital to reduce complications. With India’s national average HbA1c at 9.1 per cent, he called for intensified efforts to measure, monitor, and manage diabetes effectively to curb this growing health crisis.
June 16,2025: The Union Home Ministry on Monday issued a gazette notification, declaring that the Census will be carried out in 2027.
The notification stated that the reference date for the Census will be March 1, 2027, except for the Union Territory of Ladakh, the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. “In respect of the Union territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date shall be 00:00 hours of the 1st day of October, 2026,” the notification added.
The last Census was held in 2011. The 2027 Census will include the first nationwide caste enumeration since 1931.
A day before issuing the notification, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Sunday reviewed the preparation for the forthcoming Census with Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and other senior officials in North Delhi.
“The census will be conducted in two phases. In phase one i.e. House listing Operation (HLO), the housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected. Subsequently, in second phase i.e. Population Enumeration (PE), the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected. In the census, caste enumeration will also be done,” the statement said.
Around 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries will be deployed for the exercise, as per the statement. “This census is the 16th census since the beginning and 8th after Independence. The ensuing census will be conducted through digital means using mobile applications. Provision of self-enumeration would also be made available to the people. Very stringent data security measures would be kept in place to ensure data security at the time of collection, transmission and storage,” the statement added.