Create awareness on lifestyle diseases: Venkaiah

Vice-President addresses free medical camp on city outskirts

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu has called upon doctors to create awareness among people on the dangers posed by lifestyle diseases and the need to promote healthy living.

Inaugurating a free medical camp jointly organised by the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and the Swarna Bharat Trust (SBT) on the city outskirts on Sunday, Mr. Naidu said people should be made to pay greater attention to their health and wellness since prevention is better than cure. “A healthy nation can become a wealthy nation but not vice- versa. The spending on healthcare will naturally come down if people are healthy,” he said.

He expressed anguish over the lack of adequate medical facilities in rural areas but lauded the Centre for launching Ayushman Bharat to provide health insurance cover to 5 crore families in rural areas and 2.5 crore families in urban areas.

The scheme would provide coverage of up to ₹5 lakh per family per year. He also complimented the government for planning to establish one primary health centre for every 5,000 population and increase their number to 1.5 lakh.

The Vice-President showered appreciation on gastroenterologist and chairman, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy for organising the medical camp.

‘Make farming viable’

Speaking after giving away ‘Rythu Nestham’ awards, Mr. Naidu warned of a danger of farmers leaving agriculture unless farming is made profitable and viable. He said the emphasis should not only be on bringing down the input costs and on increasing productivity, but also curbing the indiscriminate use of fertilizers, pesticides, electricity and water.

Observing that zero budget natural farming promoted by eminent agriculturist Subhash Palekar was beneficial, he pointed out that it would help in reducing costs and providing a stable income to farmers. It would also protect the consumers against the ill-effects of pesticides, he added.

The Vice-President stressed the need to create awareness among farmers to diversify to allied activities to increase their income. A study has shown that there were no suicides by farmers who had diversified to allied activities like poultry, dairy and fisheries, he added.

Former Minister for Health and Medical Education, Andhra Pradesh, Kamineni Srinivas was present on the occasion.