On course for a healthier nation! 

By Anil Rajput

India is today at the cusp of tremendous all-round development. While its stellar economic performance is clearly visible and making a splash across the world, it is very encouraging to note that the trends in the area of health also look quite promising. The government’s visionary and people-centric policies like Ayushman Bharat Yojana and Fit India are delivering tremendous thrust to its overall vision of creating a healthier country.

Over the last 10 years, we have been witnessing a robust all-round implementation of unique and far-reaching ideas envisioned by the government, which has also scaled up its efforts to deliver health services in a nation that is home to over 1.4 billion people.Various reports on India’s efforts to address and mitigate health issues have been released and have provided valuable insights and flagged concerns about certain aspects of this subject.

One such report, titled ‘Health of the Nation 2024’ an initiative by Apollo Group, has made some interesting and significant observations. This report sensitises people about the need for preemptive health check-ups, so that there is early detection of diseases. As much as we may want for diseases to go away, the fact is that there are also some serious problems- there are health trends and certain malaises that afflict large portion of our population and these require our unfailing attention. If we look at the incidence of Lung Cancer in India, the decade between 1982 and 1992 witnessed its sharpest rise.

Over the years, its prevalence has been 20 times higher among women when compared to men- with their exposure to cooking fumes in the rural areas being a leading contributor and hazard. Realising this, the government has consistently intensified its efforts to provide cooking gas to all. I believe that in the years ahead, such well-thought-out steps will without doubt lower the incidence of this deadly disease among the women.In addition, another lethal threat to the young and old, male and female alike- that is always present in varying degrees and cannot be avoided in our busy lives, is stress. It leads to a vast number of spiraling problems and creates/aggravates many ailments.

The best example is its impact on the two most common and dangerous NCDs- Hypertension and Diabetes. The report states that chronic stress alone, increases the incidence of hypertension and diabetes by 1.3 to 2 times, with women again being more susceptible. Therefore, for a nation that has the highest number of diabetics and cardiac events, the role of stress and its reduction requires our unflinching attention. All this becomes critical as this major factor is impacting people at a younger age in a country which is today the youngest nation by demography in the world. In my view the role of stress busters cannot be overemphasised.

One such powerful stress buster is Yoga, which is irrefutably backed by science and over the past 10 years propagated like never before with increasing emphasis on its relevance in today’s world. In the words of our hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is credited with mainstreaming this ancient practice, “Yoga creates a healthy and powerful society where the collective energy is much more”. 

India has around 101 million diabetics, additionally, one in three have pre-diabetes- with the progression from pre-diabetes to uncontrolled diabetes being around 15 years. Having said this, the situation today would have become nearly unmanageable had not been for the comprehensive health policies of the government over the past ten years.

The data in the report from 2016-2023 clearly indicates that India has been able to keep the percentage of population over 45 years of age afflicted by diabetes at around 36%, and at the same time the population under 45 has been constant at 12%- this is a very important finding, considering that a huge part of our population is under 45 years of age, and I’m sure that going ahead this percentage will start to come down owing to the consistent, well planned and executed policies of the government.One area that can contribute significantly in supplementing the government’s efforts in controlling many NCDs is generating awareness about the critical need for testing and monitoring. Assocham’s CSR Council through its Illness to Wellness initiative has been doing this for over a decade.

It has organised over 475 camps, 125 interactive sessions and eight conferences- featuring over 450 health experts, engaging on a plethora of topics, along with unabated emphasis on dissemination of information, focussed and expert views, opinions and recommendations. The campaign continued its uninterrupted run, and despite serious limitations organised over 95 webinars in the covid period, it has also doubled down on its large-scale activities and organised two back-to-back awareness summits that witnessed the participation of top medical professionals from varied fields. 

I believe that it is the mass access to affordable testing that holds the key as it will lessen the health burden faced by the policymakers, as well as ensure much greater contribution from the citizens towards nation building in the years to come. Clearly, a healthier India will also be a stronger India! 

The author is the chairperson of the ASSOCHAM National CSR Council and president of corporate affairs at ITC, is the author.

(Views are personal)