Addressing Non-Communicable Disease Management in Urban Informal Settlements: A call for Integrated Action

The policy brief by the Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action examines how people living in urban informal settlements of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region struggle to manage chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension. The study found that poor awareness, delayed diagnosis, financial insecurity, and limited trust in public hospitals often led residents to seek care only when symptoms became severe.

Residents mainly depended on nearby private and AYUSH practitioners because they were affordable and accessible, but treatment was often irregular due to medication costs and fragmented healthcare services. Many patients stopped or changed treatments frequently, which affected long-term disease management.

The brief recommends improving community awareness, strengthening public healthcare services, and formally integrating AYUSH providers into chronic disease care through training, referrals, and community support systems to improve health outcomes in vulnerable urban communities.