It's nice to be modern in this age but try to keep your lifestyle a bit traditional to keep a host of modern-day diseases at bay.
This piece of advice came directly from chief minister Raghubar Das in reference to non-communicable diseases, like cardio-vascular problems, hypertension and diabetes, at the launch of Udaan (United Dialogue and Action Against Non-communicable disorders) at a Ranchi hotel on Monday.
Launched on a PPP mode and introduced in Kanke block of Ranchi on pilot basis, the project seeks to control lifestyle diseases through accelerated action jointly initiated by the government, NGO Vikas Bharati, global developer and manufacturer of medical devices Boston Scientific and international healthcare organisation Project Hope (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere).
"Avoiding sedentary lifestyle will go a long way to create a healthy society. Indian way of life keeps man connected to the earth and helps prevent several modern day diseases," the chief minister told the gathered.
Das further said: "The government alone cannot do everything and needs support from other organisations like NGOs and civil society outfits to combat these diseases. Everyone, right from village-level workers to those at the top, needs to work in tandem to make these efforts successful."
Health minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi and Kanke MLA Jeetu Charan Ram, among others, were also present. Ram welcomed the project while Chandravanshi emphasised on awareness to prevent NCDs.
According to a WHO report, there has been a significant rise in the number of people affected by non-communicable diseases in India. Moreover, 60 per cent of the total deaths in the country in 2014 were caused by NCDs, it said.
Ashish Singhmar, the mission director of rural health mission, Jharkhand, said the situation was really grave.
"Of total 24 lakh people screened under NPCDCS (National programme for prevention and control of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke) that is being run in 12 districts of the state since 2012, 1.6 lakh have been found to be suffering from hypertension and an equal number from diabetes," he added.
Ashok Bhagat, founder of Vikash Bharti, said they would work for the mission by bridging the gap between the people and the government.
"With the country becoming diabetes capital of the world, this is the time that we collectively take some steps to check these diseases," said Prabal Chakraborty, vice president of Boston Scientific.
He added that a massive awareness campaign was the need of the hour to fight these lifestyle-related diseases.
"We aspire to secure people by collaborating with other partners in the fight against ever-increasing NCDs," said Linda Heitzman, executive vice president of Project Hope.
