Need to prevent non-communicable diseases at workplaces:

Health and industry experts today called for meaningful collaborations among stakeholders for building an ecosystem for prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes and cancer, at workplaces.
Amid growing challenges posed by NCDs, Arogya World, a non-profit organisation brought together top industry speakers to deliberate on improving the health of employees at workplaces during a conference organised here.
Dr Sadhana Bhagwat (WHO India) said it was imperative that every workplace, big or small, provides health promotion and preventive initiative.
"Because it is the workplace where a person spends a good part of their time when they are active and this can provide a good platform to inculcate healthy habits among them.

"Also, expenditure in healthcare for the employees leads to reduction in sick absentism and also their moral remains high which in turn leads to high productivity. So it should be seen as an investment, and not as an expenditure," she said at the Arogya World Healthy Workplace Conference and Award Event.
Vivek Jha, Director of George Institute of Public Health said the senior management of companies should realise the value of having health employees and priortise preventive healthcare.

"Most of the organisations provide insurance to their employees and spends lot of money on curing diseases after they have developed. Rather, a preventive ecosystem needs to be created by which they should encourage employees to undergo preventive assessments so that the amount of money spent on serious diseases can be saved," Dr Jha said.

32 companies from various sectors across the country, including the Railways, were today named 'Healthy Workplaces' 2016 by Arogya World, working to prevent NCDs through education and lifestyle change.
Dr Nikhil Tandon, Professor and Head, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, AIIMS, while giving away the awards, said, "Efforts like this that promote prevention in the workplace are smart solutions to the NCD crisis our country faces. This kind of multi-sector action with many companies and organisations collaborating to improve the health of employees and their communities is what is needed to make a real difference to the health of future generations in India."

"The misery of non communicable disease as we see today, you are not curing anybody. You are just trying to keep their issues under control, therefore, the continuity of care management of risk factors become very important.
"So at the workplace, where you are not only looking at the promotive and preventive therapy aspects, that continuity has not only to be established, more importantly it has to be done in a fashion which is acceptable, culturally and contextually appropriate and sustainable," he said.