Burden of non-communicable diseases among women in Manipur: Insights from NFHS-5
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Dr Naorem Pushparani Chanu and Dr Rabichandra Singh Elangbam
While India’s disease burden has shifted decisively toward chronic non- communicable conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, respiratory illness, thyroid disorders, and cancer, policy frameworks and financial allocations remain inadequately calibrated to this epidemiological reality. These non-communicable diseases (NCDs) develop slowly over time and their cumulative burden on families and communities is profound and relentless. For Indian women, this health transition carries particular weight because women navigate biological complexities like hormonal changes and pregnancy-related complications along- side social realities that delay their healthcare seeking. Yet the NCD burden falls unevenly across India, and nowhere is this inequality starker than in North East India. Therefore, understanding what drives NCD prevalence among North East Indian women becomes urgent not as an abstract public health concern, but as a practical matter affecting real lives and families.
Recently, the NFHS-6 report was released, but the raw data has not yet been made available. For this reason, we use the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted during 2019-21, to understand how wealth, status and religious identity intersect as key determinants of NCD patterns for women aged 15-49 years in North East India in general and Manipur in particular. That said, NCDs among women aged 15-49 in Northeast can be observed across two dimensions: how disease prevalence varies within each age group and how different NCD types cluster across age cohorts.
After grouping women into five-year age bands from 15-19 through 45-49 years, we observed that across the entire NE region, hypertension emerges as the dominant health concern, affecting four in every ten. Thyroid disorders follow at 17 percent, a condition often silent until diagnosis, while chronic respiratory problems affect 12 percent. Chronic kidney disease, heart disease, and diabetes each burden between 10 and 11 percent of women. Cancer remains rare at just 1 percent, though this low figure may also reflect underdiagnosis. When examining each disease type across age bands, a clear pattern emerges where NCD prevalence rises sharply between ages 35 and 49, marking the transition where chronic illness becomes statistically dominant in women’s health profiles.
Manipur follows a similar but distinct pattern. Hypertension remains the leading burden at 31 percent, followed by thyroid disorder at 24 percent, chronic kidney disease at 19 percent, chronic respiratory disease at 11 percent, heart disease at 10 percent, diabetes at 5 percent, and cancer at 1 percent. Within the State, specific age and disease relationships emerge starkly. Diabetes clusters among women aged 45-49 years at 46 percent. Hypertension peaks in the 40-44 and 45-49 age groups at 21 and 22 percent respectively. Chronic respiratory disease shows its highest prevalence among women aged 30-34 years at 18 percent, while thyroid disease clusters in the 40-44 age group at 24 pc.
Heart disease appears most frequently among younger-middle-aged wo-men at 30-34 years with 21 pc prevalence, and chronic kidney disease peaks slightly earlier at ages 35-39 with 24 pc. Cancer remains the rarest NCD, but when it does appear, women aged 40-44 years show the highest incidence. Geographic disparities also matter as we observed that across Manipur, rural women report higher prevalence of all NCDs except chronic respiratory disease.
Further, our econometric analysis reveals that wealth and religious identity profoundly shape women’s health in ways that expose deeper truths about how societies prioritize or neglect the wellbeing of their members. Women from weal- thier economic strata show higher diabetes prevalence, with risk rising by 10 to 21 percent, likely due to sedentary lifestyles and greater access to processed foods. Yet wealth simultaneously protects against other threats. Chronic respiratory disease and heart disease both decline by 11 to 48 percent among women from wealthier sections, a stark reminder that economic resources translate into clea- ner environments and better medical access. Thyroid disorders complicate this pic- ture, increasing 41 to 72 percent with wealth, though elevated diagnosis rates among wealthier women may simply reflect their greater ability to seek care rather than indicating worse health. Further, religious identity intersects with these economic patterns in sobering ways. Muslim and Christian women carry significantly higher diabetes burdens, with rates 26 to 29 percent above Hindu wo-men. For Christian women, disparities deepen further where heart disease occurs 54 percent more frequently, and kidney disease nearly doubles.
These intersecting dimensions of wealth and faith demonstrate that women’s health outcomes are never merely biological phenomena. They emerge from the interplay of economic opportunity, cultural identity, healthcare system design.
These interconnected health inequities call for stronger policy implications. Targeted health education and prevention programs must reach rural and poorer communities, emphasising diet and lifestyle modifications for conditions like diabetes and hypertension that respond to behavioral change. Public health facilities in rural areas need substantial upgra- ding. Healthcare poli-cy must also intentionally examine disparities across religious communities. Trai- ning frontline health workers to understand cultural contexts while deli- vering evidence-based care can bridge gaps between medical systems and the communities they serve. Weal-thier populations require counseling on lifestyle to prevent diseases like diabetes, while simultaneously, prevention and treatment infrastructure must reach poorer women.
Dr Pushparani Chanu is a Doctorate in Development Studies from Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, Dr Rabichandra Singh Elangbam is Asst Prof, Dept of Eco, MU
While India’s disease burden has shifted decisively toward chronic non- communicable conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, respiratory illness, thyroid disorders, and cancer, policy frameworks and financial allocations remain inadequately calibrated to this epidemiological reality. These non-communicable diseases (NCDs) develop slowly over time and their cumulative burden on families and communities is profound and relentless. For Indian women, this health transition carries particular weight because women navigate biological complexities like hormonal changes and pregnancy-related complications along- side social realities that delay their healthcare seeking. Yet the NCD burden falls unevenly across India, and nowhere is this inequality starker than in North East India. Therefore, understanding what drives NCD prevalence among North East Indian women becomes urgent not as an abstract public health concern, but as a practical matter affecting real lives and families.
Recently, the NFHS-6 report was released, but the raw data has not yet been made available. For this reason, we use the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted during 2019-21, to understand how wealth, status and religious identity intersect as key determinants of NCD patterns for women aged 15-49 years in North East India in general and Manipur in particular. That said, NCDs among women aged 15-49 in Northeast can be observed across two dimensions: how disease prevalence varies within each age group and how different NCD types cluster across age cohorts.
After grouping women into five-year age bands from 15-19 through 45-49 years, we observed that across the entire NE region, hypertension emerges as the dominant health concern, affecting four in every ten. Thyroid disorders follow at 17 percent, a condition often silent until diagnosis, while chronic respiratory problems affect 12 percent. Chronic kidney disease, heart disease, and diabetes each burden between 10 and 11 percent of women. Cancer remains rare at just 1 percent, though this low figure may also reflect underdiagnosis. When examining each disease type across age bands, a clear pattern emerges where NCD prevalence rises sharply between ages 35 and 49, marking the transition where chronic illness becomes statistically dominant in women’s health profiles.
Manipur follows a similar but distinct pattern. Hypertension remains the leading burden at 31 percent, followed by thyroid disorder at 24 percent, chronic kidney disease at 19 percent, chronic respiratory disease at 11 percent, heart disease at 10 percent, diabetes at 5 percent, and cancer at 1 percent. Within the State, specific age and disease relationships emerge starkly. Diabetes clusters among women aged 45-49 years at 46 percent. Hypertension peaks in the 40-44 and 45-49 age groups at 21 and 22 percent respectively. Chronic respiratory disease shows its highest prevalence among women aged 30-34 years at 18 percent, while thyroid disease clusters in the 40-44 age group at 24 pc.
Heart disease appears most frequently among younger-middle-aged wo-men at 30-34 years with 21 pc prevalence, and chronic kidney disease peaks slightly earlier at ages 35-39 with 24 pc. Cancer remains the rarest NCD, but when it does appear, women aged 40-44 years show the highest incidence. Geographic disparities also matter as we observed that across Manipur, rural women report higher prevalence of all NCDs except chronic respiratory disease.
Further, our econometric analysis reveals that wealth and religious identity profoundly shape women’s health in ways that expose deeper truths about how societies prioritize or neglect the wellbeing of their members. Women from weal- thier economic strata show higher diabetes prevalence, with risk rising by 10 to 21 percent, likely due to sedentary lifestyles and greater access to processed foods. Yet wealth simultaneously protects against other threats. Chronic respiratory disease and heart disease both decline by 11 to 48 percent among women from wealthier sections, a stark reminder that economic resources translate into clea- ner environments and better medical access. Thyroid disorders complicate this pic- ture, increasing 41 to 72 percent with wealth, though elevated diagnosis rates among wealthier women may simply reflect their greater ability to seek care rather than indicating worse health. Further, religious identity intersects with these economic patterns in sobering ways. Muslim and Christian women carry significantly higher diabetes burdens, with rates 26 to 29 percent above Hindu wo-men. For Christian women, disparities deepen further where heart disease occurs 54 percent more frequently, and kidney disease nearly doubles.
These intersecting dimensions of wealth and faith demonstrate that women’s health outcomes are never merely biological phenomena. They emerge from the interplay of economic opportunity, cultural identity, healthcare system design.
These interconnected health inequities call for stronger policy implications. Targeted health education and prevention programs must reach rural and poorer communities, emphasising diet and lifestyle modifications for conditions like diabetes and hypertension that respond to behavioral change. Public health facilities in rural areas need substantial upgra- ding. Healthcare poli-cy must also intentionally examine disparities across religious communities. Trai- ning frontline health workers to understand cultural contexts while deli- vering evidence-based care can bridge gaps between medical systems and the communities they serve. Weal-thier populations require counseling on lifestyle to prevent diseases like diabetes, while simultaneously, prevention and treatment infrastructure must reach poorer women.
Dr Pushparani Chanu is a Doctorate in Development Studies from Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, Dr Rabichandra Singh Elangbam is Asst Prof, Dept of Eco, MU