New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- India has intensified screening of non-communicable diseases as part of its campaign for early detection to reduce the burden of lifestyle ailments.

The Union health ministry today launched a special campaign to screen all individuals aged 30 years and above for prevalent diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and three common cancers-oral, breast, and cervical.

The goal is to achieve 100% coverage of all the vulnerable population. Intensified campaign is part of an ongoing National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) initiative under which as many as 50 crore people have been targeted for NCD screening till 31 March.

NCDs cause 41 million deaths each year, accounting for 7...