First CKM Health Conclave Calls for Integrated Approach to Lifestyle Diseases

The first Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Health National Conclave 2026, held at Thiruvalla, concluded on Sunday with a call for an integrated strategy to prevent and manage diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease, whose burden has been rising steadily in Kerala.

The conclave was the first platform to bring the cardio-kidney-metabolic framework together. It highlighted the need to address lifestyle diseases collectively in clinical practice, since they share an underlying pathophysiology of excess adipose tissue that leads to insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities capable of affecting the heart, kidneys and other organs.

Organised by the National Resource Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Believers Church Medical College Hospital, Thiruvalla, from September 25 to 27, the conclave brought together more than 400 healthcare professionals, public health experts and policy makers. They discussed simple, sustainable and cost-effective interventions that can be implemented at the community level to prevent CKM syndrome.

The programme was conducted in partnership with the World NCD Federation, the Directorate of Health Services, Keralam, the National Health Mission and the Kerala Nephrology Association.

CKM syndrome is defined as a health disorder attributable to connections among obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, atrial fibrillation, coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral artery disease. In 2023, the American Heart Association reconceptualised metabolic syndrome as one of the stages of a larger cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, offering a better understanding of the interconnected roles of cardiac, renal and metabolic factors.

Discussions at the conclave emphasised moving beyond disease-specific management towards an integrated approach encompassing primordial and primary prevention, early risk identification, lifestyle modification, nutrition, physical activity and community engagement.

In the keynote address, J. S. Thakur, president of the World NCD Federation and Professor and Head of the School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh, spoke on the challenges involved in bringing cardio-kidney-metabolic health into mainstream NCD prevention strategies. Cherian Varghese, a public health expert and former WHO consultant, discussed how Kerala needed to evolve coordinated strategies across the health system to address cardiovascular, renal and metabolic health issues.

Perspectives from medicine, public health, nutrition, exercise, sleep and mental well-being were brought in to emphasise how their interplay can affect CKM syndrome. The importance of physical activity in preventing metabolic disorders, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, genetic factors influencing metabolic syndrome, and the often overlooked role of sleep and stress in perpetuating metabolic syndrome were also discussed.

State Mission Director of Aarogya Keralam Renu Raj and S. S. Lal, Chairman of the Kerala State Committee for Epidemic Control, also spoke on the policy interventions needed to focus attention on the prevention of CKM syndrome.

A CKM Declaration incorporating the conclave's recommendations on policy interventions and preventive strategies for Kerala's health system will be formally released in the capital at a later date.