Why do chronic illnesses now cause most deaths in India? Heart disease, cancer, diabetes and lung disease do not spread from person to person. They build up over years. They now cause roughly six in ten deaths in India.
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How big are NCDs in India's death toll?
NCDs cause about 63% of all deaths in India. That figure is widely quoted. Different studies give slightly different numbers.
What do the main sources say?
- ICMR’s disease-burden study found NCDs caused 37.9% of deaths in 1990.
- The same study put the share at 61.8% in 2016.
- The national action plan reports 6.0 million NCD deaths in 2016, which is 62%.
- WHO’s data portal gives 66% for 2019, as reported by Down To Earth.
What is the memory hook?
Think “37 to 63”. About a third in 1990, about two thirds now.
Sources: PIB on the ICMR disease-burden study; The Wire on the 63% figure; Down To Earth on ICMR-NCDIR.
Which diseases count as NCDs?
The big four are cancer, heart and blood-vessel disease, chronic lung disease and diabetes. Each one grows slowly and lasts long.
What are the main risk factors?
- Tobacco use.
- Harmful use of alcohol.
- An unhealthy diet.
- Too little physical activity.
- High blood pressure. A WHO report found it in 21% of Indians.
What is the memory hook?
Think “four diseases, four habits”. Tobacco, alcohol, diet, inactivity.
Sources: Down To Earth on the WHO NCD report; PIB update on NP-NCD, March 2026.
How did India's NCD programmes develop?
India built these programmes in steps. Tobacco came first. Then came a wider NCD programme.
What are the milestones?
- The National Tobacco Control Programme began in 2007-08.
- The NPCDCS began in 2010 under the National Health Mission.
- It was later renamed NP-NCD.
- The Ministry says it has run NP-NCD in all States and Union Territories since 2010.
- The National Multisectoral Action Plan covered 2017 to 2022.
What is the memory hook?
Think “tobacco 07-08, programme 2010, plan 2017”. Three steps.
Sources: NTCP FAQs, Health Ministry; PIB, ICMR study and NPCDCS.
PIB, NP-NCD in all States, August 2024; NMAP 2017-22 summary.
What does NP-NCD set up on the ground?
NP-NCD builds clinics and care units at several levels of the health system.
What is in place?
- 770 District NCD Clinics.
- 479 District Day Care Centres.
- 6,410 NCD clinics at Community Health Centres.
- 233 Cardiac Care Units.
- Frontline workers (ASHAs and ANMs) provide screening and referral.
- Tata Memorial Centre added new cancer hospitals in New Chandigarh (2022), Visakhapatnam (2023) and Muzaffarpur (2025).
What is the memory hook?
Think “district, day care, CHC, cardiac”. Four kinds of facility, plus new cancer hospitals.
Sources: PIB update on NP-NCD, March 2026; PIB reply on cancer care facilities, July 2026.
How many people has the programme screened?
By February 2026, screening had reached very large numbers. People over 30 are the target group.
What are the headline numbers?
- Hypertension: 40.87 crore screened, 7 crore diagnosed.
- Of those diagnosed, 5.57 crore were on treatment.
- Diabetes: 40.68 crore screened, 4.68 crore diagnosed.
- Oral cancer: 34.71 crore screened.
- Cervical cancer: 8.73 crore women screened, 93,062 diagnosed.
What is the memory hook?
Think “screen many, diagnose fewer, treat fewer still”. A funnel.
Sources: PIB annexure, data as on February 2026.
Is India on track for the global NCD target?
The global target is a 25% fall in premature NCD deaths by 2025. The base year is 2010.
What do the studies show?
- The Global NCD Action Plan was agreed in 2011.
- ICMR-NCDIR projects only a 13.9% fall from 2010 to 2025.
- So India is likely to miss the 25% target by a wide margin.
- WHO data show 22% of deaths in 2019 were premature.
What is the memory hook?
Think “25 wanted, 13.9 likely”. Short of the goal.
Sources: Down To Earth on ICMR-NCDIR projections; Down To Earth on the WHO NCD report.
What are the exam traps?
Four mix-ups come up often.
What are the traps?
- Which share of deaths? Quote the source. ICMR says 61.8% for 2016. About 63% is the common estimate.
- NTCP or NPCDCS? Tobacco control began in 2007-08. NPCDCS began in 2010.
- Old name or new? NPCDCS is now called NP-NCD.
- 25% by when? The global target is 2025, against 2010.
What is the memory hook?
Think “source, name, year”.
Sources: PIB on the ICMR study; NTCP FAQs, Health Ministry; PIB, NP-NCD in all States, August 2024.
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Native Practice
Practise with five questions on NCDs in India, the national programmes and the targets. Read the connected explanation after each answer.
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