New Delhi: SMSRC & Group (Medclin Research and Synaegis), one of India’s leading healthcare research, intelligence, and consulting organizations, has published findings on major disease trends prevailing in India and how they are currently being managed by healthcare providers.
The study reveals that diseases of the respiratory system are the largest disease area in India.
The study was conducted on the basis of the MAT February 2024 prescription audit, which identified and aggregated data from more than 10,700 doctors over a 15-year period. The doctors in the sample were distributed across all key specialties, across 80+ cities and towns in India. This is a first-of-its kind real-world evidence-based study from an Indian context.
According to the publication, diseases of the respiratory system are the largest disease area in India, constituting 15.3% of all Rx of total patients with diseases in India. Endocrine and metabolic diseases (e.g., diabetes and others) are in second place with 13.5% of the Rx of all patients, followed by GI-related diseases and circulatory diseases (hypertension, cholesterol, etc.) as the next ranked disease area.
Respiratory diseases, which consist of various upper and lower respiratory tract diseases, are treated via the following therapeutic class of medicines: antibiotics, cough and cold preparations, pain relievers, and respiratory products. Respiratory products comprising anti-asthma tablets, syrups, inhalers, and nebulizers are one of the fastest-growing therapeutic classes of medicines in India.
Further, within Diseases of the Respiratory System, URTI (Upper Respiratory Tract Infection) constitutes 27% of the share in 2024 and is the largest type of respiratory disease. However, over the past 10 years, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease (6% of all respiratory diseases) and “Running Nose” (an upper respiratory tract condition) have been the relatively fastest-growing respiratory diseases. COPD, which is driven more by the external environment (e.g., pollution, biomass fuel) and lifestyle-driven factors (e.g., smoking, burning tobacco), has been the key disease driving the growth of respiratory diseases in India. COPD is predominantly an urban phenomenon, with metro and Tier 1 cities seeing approx. 90% of cases, and its occurrence is predominantly seen in male patients over 51 years of age.
Specialist doctor segments such as chest physicians, cardiologists, diabetologists, and consulting physicians treat COPD patients with anti-aasthma solids, anti-asthma inhalers, and nebulization in descending order of preference. Cough preparation and antibiotics are also used. As per the SMSRC report, since 2014 there has been a 1.3x growth in the usage of anti-asthma inhalants and nebulization as compared to anti-asthma tablets in the management of COPD. Inhalants and nebulization, generally considered a superior and more effective treatment choice, still have immense potential to continue to provide increasing relief to a growing number of COPD patients, given that they are still the second-ranked category of anti-asthma solids.
The incidence of asthma, a genetic condition contributing 10% of all respiratory diseases, has seen a more moderate increase over the past 10 years. Younger patients below 10 years constitute the largest chunk of asthmatic patients, although an increasing proportion of elderly patients are also seen being diagnosed with asthma as compared to 10 years ago (35% above 41 years of age in 2014 vs. 41% above 41 years of age in 2024).
Chest physicians, cardiologists, and consulting physicians generally prefer anti-aasthma solids, followed by inhalers and nebulizers. Since 2014, the growth in the usage of inhalers and nebulizers has been 1.2x, as compared to that of anti-asthma tablets. However, inhalers are still the second preference to anti-asthma tablets amongst chest physicians, cardiologists, and consulting physicians. Unlike COPD, though, given the younger age cohort of asthmatic patients, pediatricians are also an important segment, but the usage of inhalers is much lesser, with anti-asthma tablets and syrups and cough preparation being a more preferred mode of treatment.
Dr. Sanjoy Mitra, Founder and MD of SMSRC, mentions, “Given the inclination towards respiratory diseases in India, the general patient population is advised to maintain a better quality of lifestyle to help reduce the growing respiratory disease burden in the country. Authorities and policy makers could further strengthen controls on excessive pollution, whereas healthcare delivery stakeholders can focus on increasing both the depth (i.e., compliance) and spread (i.e., awareness of compliance) in the usage of more effective treatment medications, such as inhalers, in the management of COPD and asthma in India.”
SMSRC plans to research further and support healthcare delivery stakeholders by increasing both the depth and spread of effective treatment methods amongst doctors and patients for COPD and asthma to help reduce the disease burden.
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