Kerala survey flags 41% of those screened at risk of lifestyle diseases

Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly four in 10 adults screened in the third phase of the ongoing ‘Shaili’ digital health survey were found to have one or more risk factors for non-communicable diseases, underlining the scale of Kerala’s lifestyle disease burden. It has also been found that 13% of those screened had hypertension and 7.8% had diabetes.According to govt data tabled in the assembly, the third phase of the survey, which began in Jan 2026, has so far covered 28,60,285 people aged above 30. Of them, 11,70,784 (40.9%) were found to have risk factors for lifestyle diseases. The survey identified 3,71,520 people (13%) with hypertension, 2,23,069 (7.8%) with diabetes and another 1,69,590 (5.9%) with both diabetes and hypertension. Besides, 31,692 suspected cancer cases (1.1%), 31,274 suspected tuberculosis cases (1.1%) and 53,484 suspected chronic respiratory disease cases (1.9%) were referred to government health facilities for confirmatory diagnosis and treatment.Data from successive rounds of the survey had shown a sharp rise in the proportion of people carrying lifestyle disease risk factors. During the first phase, they were 27,91,062 of the 1,54,26,716 people screened (18.1%). In the second phase, the figure rose to 61,71,995 out of 1,43,94,851 people screened (42.9%). The third phase has so far recorded a comparable 40.9%.As many as 3,26,81,852 people have been screened in these rounds.

They identified 1,00,33,841 people with lifestyle disease risk factors, 48,60,417 with hypertension, 27,02,462 with diabetes and 16,19,824 with both diabetes and hypertension. They also flagged 12,10,821 suspected cancer cases, 4,36,831 suspected tuberculosis cases and 9,75,006 suspected chronic respiratory disease cases.“Kerala has largely succeeded in controlling communicable diseases, but it has also emerged as a lifestyle diseases hub, with a high prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and other non-communicable diseases.

As life expectancy increases, the state’s ageing population is also growing, making such diseases a far bigger public health challenge. What the state needs now is a new health policy that places much greater emphasis on preventing and managing non-communicable diseases.

While we have rightly focused on combating outbreaks such as Nipah, an equally strong policy response is needed to address the growing burden of lifestyle diseases,” said S S Lal, who headed the health commission constituted by UDF govt that submitted its recommendations recently.The Shaili programme is implemented through annual household visits by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) using a digital application developed under the state’s e-Health initiative. The application captures details such as age, tobacco and alcohol use, family history and other behavioural risk factors using an individual’s Unique Health Identifier (UHID). Those identified as being at high risk are referred to family health centres and primary health centres for screening, diagnosis and free treatment.