New Delhi, April 1 According to data from the Indian Army's record offices for arms and services up to December 31, 2023, the prevalence of hypertension among junior commissioned officers and other ranks (JCOs/OR) was 9.61%, the government informed a parliamentary panel.
The Ministry of Defence, in its response to the Public Accounts Committee, stated that the prevalence of both hypertension and diabetes mellitus among JCOs/OR personnel was "nearly half" of the prevalence in the general population, citing data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) conducted in 2019-2021.
In the Army context, JCOs/OR refers to personnel below officer rank.
The panel's report, "Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee contained in their One Hundred and Twenty First Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on 'Disability Pension in Indian Army'", was presented in Parliament on Wednesday.
The Committee stated that in its original recommendation, it had "expressed concern over the relatively high proportion of officers retiring with disabilities, particularly noting that lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and diabetes accounted for a significant share of these disabilities."
The panel also requested "comprehensive data" on the prevalence of these diseases among Indian Army personnel, as well as "remedial measures" undertaken to mitigate their incidence.
The Committee also requested a "root cause analysis to better understand and address the underlying factors."
The ministry shared data on the prevalence of hypertension and type II diabetes mellitus in JCOs/OR, "based on data received from Record Offices of Arms and Services of the Indian Army up to December 31, 2023."
The prevalence of hypertension and type II diabetes mellitus in JCOs/OR for this period was 9.61% and 2.78%, respectively.
The corresponding figures for the general population, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), were 18.3% and 4.9%, respectively.
"The data indicates that the prevalence of both hypertension and diabetes mellitus is nearly half of the prevalence in the rest of the country. These rates are a result of continuous health promotion and activities, advisories and policies focusing on the prevention and control of lifestyle diseases," the ministry told the panel in its reply.
It also listed the measures that have been instituted for the prevention and control of lifestyle diseases, such as observance of various health days and regular activities to raise awareness.
Referring to its previous report, the Committee also noted that the "percentage of medical officers granted disability pension was significantly higher as compared to other officers in the Indian Army."
"The Committee notes from the ministry's response that medical officers have irregular working hours, are unable to adopt healthy lifestyles, and, therefore, are relatively more prone to developing lifestyle disorders. Furthermore, due to their domain knowledge, they are detected early and in larger numbers," it said.
The ministry further informed the panel that an analysis of medical officers having a higher percentage of disabilities due to lifestyle disorders than other officers "needs to be realistically compared as a subset since this composite figure includes officers of the MNS and non-technical officers."
"However, preventive steps have been taken, and a policy has been promulgated that Release Medical Boards of medical officers will be conducted only in hospitals commanded by a brigadier and above and also in a different geographical location outside the area of responsibility to eliminate any such perception," the report said.
The Committee, in its latest report, recalled the earlier comment that it desires to obtain a "comprehensive report from the ministry on the effectiveness of the remedial measures and any new strategies adopted to reduce the prevalence of lifestyle diseases in the armed forces."
The PAC also noted from the ministry's response that the average retirement age of an officer is 54 years, while that of PBOR (personnel below officer rank) is 35 years (37-45 yrs) and most of the disabilities encountered during retirement have their "onset in later years of life" including hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease (CAD), etc., as these are "constitutional disorders which occur with called periodic medical examination (PME) is conducted only after 35 years of age for all ranks".
The committee also said that it may be "apprised about the disability data in respect of all categories of officers along with an analysis of the diseases they were suffering from".
"Since most soldiers retire around this age, the detection of medical ailments in 40s and 50s is higher in officers," the panel had said in its earlier report.
The ministry in their action taken reply has also said, "Since implementation of SPARSH, all relevant disability data, i.e. category, disease name etc., are being captured and available in the database of SPARSH, but pensioner age at the onset of that disease is not being captured; since this detail does not affect the sanction of disability PPO".
System for Pension Administration-Raksha (SPARSH) is the world's largest pension system for defence personnel.