Byculla most unhealthy, Bandra is next: Praja

 Wh e n i t comes to healthy living, Byculla was the most unhealthy of the lot with the area coming up top on sensitive diseases with Bandra following it, according to a white paper released by Praja Foundation. 

    The NGO that conducted a survey of households across Mumbai with a sample size of 15,191 said the findings showed that healthwise, Byculla with a 4.13 lakh population was the worst assembly constituency with an estimated one-in-three or 34.1% households suffering from malaria last year. Bandra—both west and east—and Magathane fared worse when it came to malaria cases, with one in four households having contracted the disease but overall, Byculla ranked high on other sensitive diseases like tuberculosis, hypertension and diabetes. 
    An estimated 26.1% of households had malaria cases in Bandra in the past one year, with Magathane having 25.7% and 21% in Andheri. 
    Madhukar Chavan, member of legislative assembly from Byculla constituency, said the area has many problems—sprawling slums and unhygienic conditions—because of which the number of diseases have been high. "Because the slum population is high, the hygiene conditions are not very good. The slum areas also lack amenities like sanitation and toilets. The BMC needs to pay a little more attention to the area. If it is kept clean, the number of diseases will automatically go down," MLA Chavan said. 
    "The sheer number of people in the city, especially in the slums, makes it impossible to control the communicable diseases," said a senior doctor from the medicine department of KEM Hospital. 
    The report revealed that the areas also ranked high in not only communicable diseases like tuberculosis, but also lifestyle diseases like diabetes and hypertension. With the sedentary lifestyle that Mumbaikars are leading, the numbers of diabetes and hypertension cases are bound to increase, said doctors. 
    "Fast food and lack of exercise have ignited the genetic tendency of citizens to suffer from diabetes. We already have a generation suffering from pre-diabetes. If this is not brought under control, then the next generation is going to suffer worse," said Dr Hemant Thacker, who consults at Jaslok and Breach Candy Hospitals.