Good health key to sustainable development, say experts

Road accidents contribute "highly" to the death rate in the country and the society needs to be given knowledge on various aspects in case of an emergency, experts speaking at a symposium on health and development at the 102nd Indian Science Congress said here today.
Vijayshil Gautam, Professor and Head of Trauma and Emergency Care in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, spoke on 'Road safety and Trauma prevention' and said road accidents contribute highly to the death rate.
"People are unaware or rather not empowered enough to deal with accidents and panic when they witness one," he said, adding that the society needs to be empowered with knowledge and information on various health aspects in case of an emergency, he said.

Sandeep Kumar, Director, AIIMS, Bhopal, said according to the world health organisation, health indicators can help in the measurement of sustainable development goals, and support the governance.
Healthy people are better able to learn, work and contribute to the economies and societies, he said. Sustainable development leads to improvement of health by adopting smart strategies for the reduction of communicable diseases, maternal and child health, he said.
Narendra Kumar Arora, Executive Director of the International Clinical Epidemiology Network, who spoke on the 'economic development and child health', lauded the government for polio eradication campaign.

"The country turned the tide of HIV epidemic, cutting new infections by more than half in just a decade and averted a disaster that had been predicted by many," he said.

Educating mothers and processing clean water are two important steps in the development of child health, he said.
"Non-communicable diseases are a threat to the developing and under developing countries," said K Srinath Reddy, President of Public Health Foundation of India.