Vice President calls for dedicating next decade to make India healthier

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday stressed the need to dedicate the next decade from 2020 to 2030 to make India healthier by promoting a healthy lifestyle, improving healthcare facilities and making healthcare affordable and accessible to all.

Inaugurating Delta Hospitals in Rajahmundry, he expressed concern over the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases owing to a change in lifestyle and dietary habits and stressed the need for following healthy lifestyle practices.

Citing a WHO report, he said that around 61 per cent of deaths in India were attributed to non-communicable diseases including heart disorders, cancer, and diabetes.

According to an official release, he suggested launching a national movement against the growing incidence of non-communicable diseases and wanted hospitals, the Indian Medical Association, and the medical fraternity to take lead in creating awareness among people especially youth.

"We need to dedicate the next decade-- from 2020 - 2030 to make India healthier by focusing on promoting a healthy lifestyle, improving healthcare facilities, making healthcare affordable and accessible to all," he said.

Highlighting the importance of creating awareness among children and the youth of the hazards caused by unhealthy dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles, the Vice President said that students in schools must be encouraged to take part in at least one physical activity every day or yoga to stay fit and healthy.

Noting that the aim to achieve universal healthcare has many challenges including bridging the urban-rural divide, Naidu urged the private sector to expand its footprint to villages and remote rural areas and reach out to people with affordable healthcare.

"It is important for the private sector to complement the efforts of the government in taking modern healthcare facilities to people living in rural areas," he added.

Stating that the Government of India has launched several initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat to increase citizens' access to good quality affordable healthcare to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030, the Vice President called upon the private sector to supplement government's efforts to achieve the target.

Naidu urged doctors to show empathy and compassion towards the patients and treat their profession as a mission to serve the people and not as a commercial vocation.

He referred to the high-status given to professionals such as doctors and teachers in Indian culture and asked them to keep service as their motto.

Naidu urged them to show empathy and compassion towards the patients and treat their profession as a mission to serve the people and not as a commercial vocation.

He stressed the need to innovate and adopt the best practices from the world over to improve healthcare services and treatment protocols.