We are fooling ourselves: India is a sick nation

Indians are definitely unhealthy  

India cannot be called “healthy” in any comfortable sense: it carries a triple burden of unfinished infectious diseases, rapidly rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and worsening lifestyle risk factors driven by sedentary work, poor diet, and chronic stress. The country’s disease profile shows both progress and a heavy health load, with NCDs now causing about 60% of deaths and communicable diseases still remaining a major public-health challenge.

Infectious disease burden

India continues to face major communicable disease pressure from tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, dengue, acute encephalitis syndrome, and neglected tropical diseases. A public-health review notes that despite progress, these infections remain a serious threat, especially in poorer and more vulnerable populations. India also carries a large burden of neglected tropical diseases; one compiled estimate lists millions of cases for ascariasis, hookworm, trichuriasis, dengue, lymphatic filariasis, and leprosy. This means the infection burden has not disappeared even as the country has developed economically.

NCDs dominate mortality

The bigger shift is toward chronic disease. The Government of India has cited national disease-burden work showing that the share of deaths due to NCDs rose from 37.9% in 1990 to 61.8% in 2016. A major review also states that heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic pulmonary disease together account for nearly 80% of NCD deaths. In addition, a 2026 study on chronic kidney disease found 2023 incidence across Indian states ranging from 226.4 to 316.4 per 100,000, with prevalence as high as 10,452 to 12,539 per 100,000, showing how wide and uneven the chronic-disease burden has become.

Sedentary life and stress

Modern urban and semi-urban life in India is increasingly sedentary: long commutes, desk work, screen time, and low routine physical activity all raise risk for obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. The public-health literature links these conditions to lack of physical activity, unhealthy diet, tobacco, and alcohol use. Stress adds another layer, because overwork, financial pressure, traffic, job insecurity, and sleep loss intensify cardiovascular and metabolic risk; even earlier surveys described sedentary but fast-paced lifestyles as a growing driver of heart disease in India.

India is not a nation defined by one disease, but by a health system and social environment under strain. Communicable diseases continue to affect the poor, while NCDs increasingly hit all classes, including younger adults. The real warning is that disease is now shaped not only by microbes, but by how people live, work, eat, travel, and cope with stress every day. 

Post by Dr. Sunil S Chiplunkar M Pharm PhD MBA PGDHRM

Measles epidemic @ Bangladesh (June 2026)

To hear things like a measles epidemic in Asia is quite an eyebrow- raiser.  The turmoil for patients and stigma for a nation due to epidemic is certainly challenging.  Immunization shots are vital to avoid diseases like measles and create individual and herd immunity (resistance to disease).  When health care systems and the general economy go sluggish, there rises the problems of epidemics.  Proactive vigil is as important as prompt action in matters of healthcare to avoid disturbing incidents such as a measles epidemic.

Another vital point to note is that of under-nutrition: a severe risk factor compounding the mortality rate is malnutrition. Additionally, disruptions to public health campaigns in 2025 meant that many children missed their scheduled Vitamin A supplementation rounds. Vitamin A deficiency heavily increases the risk of severe illness, blindness, and death when a child contracts measles.

Why this measles epidemic in Bangladesh?

Before the epidemic, Bangladesh's coverage slipped to roughly 86% for the first dose and 80% for the second dose. This minor-looking percentage drop created a quiet accumulation of completely unvaccinated ("zero-dose") children over 4 to 5 years. Once the virus was reintroduced, this pool of vulnerable children acted as fuel for the explosive outbreak.  Public health requires a strict 95% vaccination coverage rate of both doses of the Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine to maintain herd immunity.

It is said the trinity of HEALTH, WEALTH AND WISDOM are the real pursuits of humankind.  In the case of current measles epidemic in Bangladesh, health focus has taken a toss.

Why this episode of measles epidemic is dangerous in Bangladesh?

Measles does not just cause a rash and fever; it actively destroys the body's defenses. It induces "immune amnesia," wiping out a child's previously acquired antibodies to other diseases, leaving them vulnerable to other infections for months or years.

Take a lesson from this epidemic measles @ Bangladesh and let us all focus on proper healthcare practices, because ill-health knows no political borders: from Dr. Sunil S Chiplunkar M Pharm PhD MBA PGHDRM 

Momentum @ Community-Led Clinical Influence

There is a new trending that is rolling on like a juggernaut, which many MNCs and other big companies are latching on to very stickily - and experiencing fiery sales growth!  The trending phenomenon is COMMUNITY-LED CLINICAL INFLUENCE.

The concept of community-led clinical influence is based on real-world evidence that clinicians experience daily, thus leading to peer-driven professional advocacy for a therapy or product.  

This "Community-Led Clinical Influence" approach is best illustrated with success of Shy NM toothpaste:

A prime illustration of the COMMUNITY-LED CLINICAL INFLUENCE in modern dentistry is the market trajectory of Shy NM toothpaste. Formulated with Calcium Sodium Phosphosilicate (CSPS), Shy NM is specifically engineered to target dentin sensitivity and facilitate enamel remineralization. The clinical footprint of Shy NM has expanded primarily through the active endorsement of dental professional communities, institutional faculties, and regional practitioner peer groups who actively champion its underlying bioactive glass technology.

The clinical influence for Shy NM operates through decentralized, grass-roots professional circles. Dentists regularly exchange real-world patient outcomes, share case studies in localized forums, and discuss product efficacy on peer-to-peer networks. 

When a respected clinician witnesses how effectively Shy NM occludes open dentinal tubules to offer sustained, long-term relief to dentin sensitive patients, their organic advocacy carries immense credibility within their professional circle. This decentralized validation creates a resilient, high-trust loop that conventional marketing simply cannot replicate.

Pharma companies are going thick into the game of this collective grassroots promotion

GSK is deploying this approach of 'community-led clinical influence' for their antibiotic therapy promotion, DRL is doing it for a wide range of products, and so are Torrent and Glenmark that are knee deep into promoting products through the 'community-led clinical influence' strategy.

Thanks for reading this blogpost by Dr. Sunil S Chiplunkar M Pharm PhD MBA PGDHRM