Can Hyderabad be made Healthy? : Air
pollution due to extreme traffic congestion is causing Heart attacks and Lung
cancer
Foundation for Futuristic Cities has organized the Roundtable on ‘Healthy Hyderabad – Wealthy Telangana’ at ASCI on 03 November 2019.
More than 30 Eminent doctors, City planners, Technology experts, participated in the Roundtable
Hyderabad, 3rd November, 2019: Foundation for Futuristic Cities organised a Roundtable on’ Healthy Hyderabad ‘ at ASCI on Sunday. Ms Karuna Gopal, President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities, Chaired the Roundtable. Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Hon’ble Governor of Himachal Pradesh was the Chief Guest, the Guests of Honour were Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Government of India and Shri Padmanabaiah, Chairman ASCI.
The elite panel
comprised of eminent medical specialists and intelligentsia including Dr B. Bhaskar Rao, Managing
Director, KIMS Hospital; Dr
Vasant Kumar, Senior Diabetologist, Apollo Hospitals; Dr Purnima Nagaraja, Senior Psychiatrist; Ms Sirisha, MD, Healthcare Startup using AI; Dr Saxena, Accomplished Environmental Medical Practitioner; Dr Vasuprada Kartic, Ph.D in Therapy
Trauma Counselling; Dr Nagaraju,
Urologist; Dr Manjula, Anaesthetist;
Dr Vijayalakshmi, Gynecologist; Dr Vijayalakshmi, Professor of Urban
Planning, JNTU; Dr Vedaprakash,
Senior Orthopedician, Care Hospitals; Dr.
Prakash Reddy, AYUSH; Dr. Geeta
Nagashree, Oncologist & MD, Aasha Hospital and Shri GBK Rao, Chairman &
Managing Director, Pragathi Resorts, amongst others.
Shri Bandaru Dattatreya said, the population of the cities has grown manifold but the infrastructure has not been improved commensurately and the urban areas are left crippled because of lack of basic amenities. 15 to 20% of the kids in urban areas suffer from obesity, the reason is lack of open spaces for children to play and have physical activity. Similarly all urbanites young are old are becoming victims due to various deficiencies and ills the urban areas present, including lack of clean air, clean water, un-adultered food, free flowing drainage, sanitation etc. This can be overcome only by a concerted effort on the part of Government, Civil society, experts and the common man together. The Government has introduced Ayushman Bharat, the world’s biggest healthcare scheme for the poor covering over 55 cr people. The Government has also brought healthcare costs down by having a ceiling on the cost of stents and other such material. Request state government to take up Musi cleaning on priority, as it is a major cause for mosquito breeding and the associated menace in the city and rescue people from the diseases. People are today more conscious about their health, but they need to focus their energies on swatch Bharat which will make the city clean and livable.
Shri
G. Kishan Reddy speaking on the occasion said, the disease is all pervasive
in urban areas, be it the urban poor who are afflicted because of lack of
proper amenities like clean drinking water, proper drainage, malnutrition and
the rich are also ill for different reasons. Today we don’t strain our body at
all due to modernization, unlike our elders who put their body to vigorous
physical activity. Civic problems is the bane of urban centers and all the
ailments we suffer from are in some way or other related to the civic issues. One
of the biggest issue ailing the urban areas is lack of proper sanitation, waste
is thrown into the drains obstructing their flow or in lakes polluting them,
this leads to mosquito breeding and in other ways too are a source of illness
in the society. There isn’t enough space for tree to supply clean air or for us
to do physical activity in the open space. The food we eat is contaminated. All
this is increasing the disease burden in the cities. We also need to modify our
lifestyle to be not prone to the diseases. Government is doing its part, but we
can’t expect the government alone to eradicate all the ills plaguing the urban
society, the citizens should be sensitised to the issues and look for solutions
locally to add to the Government effort. I want the experts here to share their
ideas and solutions, from Government of India’s side we will consider and
implement them.
In her Inaugural speech, Ms Karuna Gopal gave the rationale for organizing this roundtable.
She said “Today any Global Discourse on health is not possible without Urban health being a major part of those discussions – that is because we are in the Urban Millennium where most of the world lives in cities. The international medical community pretty much agrees that The Future of Global Health Is Urban Health.
The disease profile in
most countries transitioned from Infectious diseases to NCDs- Cardio vascular
disease, Diabetes Mellitus and Cancer. City Planning and lack of Design has
been attributed to this profile.
Most of the top ten causes
of death (2016) are directly or indirectly influenced by faulty urban design and planning policies.
Heart
attack , stroke , chronic respiratory disease, lung cancers – more than a quarter to one-third of deaths
are caused by air pollution – with urban traffic, improper waste,
management industrial emissions heating
and power production, as leading sources.
Air pollution due to
extreme traffic congestion is causing Heart attacks and Lung cancer even for
those who eat healthy and get exercise.
Child Obesity is not
because children eat junk food but because there are not many parks, sports
complexes, municipal swimming pools, public gyms etc for them to play.
A research report says
that if the BMI (Bio Mass Index) of citizens is 25, the city will be a
performing city but given the condition in cities it seems difficult to reach.
Where do people walk? Urban environments are often referred to as ‘obesogenic as they can discourage physical activity and favour
less-healthy dietary choices.
Neurological
Disease burden MENTAL HEALTH will be the next major issues in urban environment.
The differences in
Rural and Urban Health profiles are diminishing NITI Aayog report says
Pregnant women anaemic
– Urban (46) and rural (52)
Children anaemic – Urban (56) and rural (52)
Children under 5
stunted – Urban (31) rural (41)
The health and
nutrition indicators in urban areas are as bad as of their rural counterparts. At
times even worse.
Globally some
interesting experiments are being done
Doctors are being
trained in City Planning, and cities are being designed seeing thru the lens of
a doctor. We at futuristic cities are the first think tank to propose and work
in that direction
Coming
to India – This Roundtable is extremely valuable to India and perhaps even to the world as
India accounts for 21%
of the global disease burden. NCDs constitute 65% of overall disease burden in
India and shall impact the economy to the extent of 24,000 crore INR.
India’s is unique
profile
Triple Disease Profile
- India’s Economic Profile and Health Profile are not in sync … technically we are developing country therefore we developed new age diseases (life style) like NCD. But the unfortunate thing is we RETAINED infectious disease profile that is predominantly seen in under developed world.
We mimic
USA for NCDs and Bangladesh for Infectious Diseases
- India
is also experiencing all 4 major phenomena (Globalization, Industrialization,
Urbanization and Motorization) at the same time! Interestingly we are also
experiencing all 4 industrial revolutions at the same time
This presents a unique disadvantage of disease but a
unique advantage of potential cure for them
This Roundtable is very imp for Hyderabad
Hyderabad has been
recording many cases of cardiovascular disease and Diabetes .A new health study
across Hyderabad schools revealed disturbing trends on various health disorders
among even schoolchildren – 1 in 5 kids are vulnerable to lifestyle and
metabolic diseases as Hyderabad has the highest child obesity .
At least 20% of 18,000
children surveyed are at risk. Air pollution is not only causing asthma but
also heart attacks. An analysis of Air Quality Index (AQI) values compiled by
Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) for 2018, shows air quality
levels have been dipping across the city. Hyderabad’s air quality worse than
major southern cities
Hyderabad
scores low on HIGS Framework – Hazards Infrastructure Governance & Social
development
We are here to Urge
Govt of Tengana to see Hyderabad thru the lens of Health and explore Health
Centric Planning.
Shri
Padmanabaiah said, only 10% of the populace will agree that Indian
healthcare is strong, the other 90% will say no. Health of citizens is impacted
in urban areas due to lack of clean water, proper drainage system, poor
sanitation, contaminated food, urban crowding with no lung spaces for clean
air. We have destroyed all that is naturally coming to us like water, air,
food, earth. In addition we are plagued by the urban menace of accidents, large
number of lives are lost due to this. Urban areas lack PHCs, while PHCs are
expected to take care of 80% of the population and only balance 20% should go
to secondary and tertiary hospitals. But our Hospitals are bursting at the
seams due to all the category of patients going to them. The other wrong
practice is we living in a state of denial, recently the very existence of
dengue was denied, instead of addressing the problem we are denying it so the
root cause of a problem can’t be identified and suitable combated.
Dr B. Bhaskar Rao said,
everyone is aware of what ails of the urban areas, they are also aware of
solutions, but there is none to address and implement them. Health of an
individual is the wealth of the nation. Quality care comes at a price, today it
requires 10 people coupled with technology to treat a patient and that is bound
to have a cost. No amount of revenue allocated by government to treat patients
through various schemes will suffice, because 85% of the population is eligible
for getting treated under it, instead of just the poor. Doles will not help,
instead the population should be encouraged to opt for health insurance which
costs the same as two cups of tea per day.
Dr
Purnima Nagaraja said, urbanization leads to stress and impacts
mental health, in days to come depression will overtake ailments like cardiac
and stroke. The neglect to mental health is reflected in the fact that we just
have one mental health hospital for the entire population of the state. Dr
Vasuprada Kartic said, urban living is leading to mental health problems,
in cities there is no semblence of work-life balancing. The increase in
diseases is due to stress in life in various forms causing psychosomatic
ailments. Dr Vijay Mahan, Professor of Medicine said, we are becoming easy
victims of urban ailments because as Indian we get all diseases 10 years ahead
of others. The reasons being our genes are bad, our healthcare system is not
efficient. So the way out is mass awareness on healthy living. Dr VIjay Chander
Reddy, Past President of IMA, said, an integrated system for comprehensive
healthcare is the need of the hour. Dr
Geeta Nagashree, wanted the local healthcare workers like ANMs and Asha
workers to be leveraged effectively, there are such grassroot workers for every
600 to 800 people. Their services can be strengthened by training them for
early detection, which can greatly help improve the health of the people. Dr Vasant Kumar said, we not only have
to deal with communicable diseases but also non- communicable diseases (NCDs).
Today, even the urban poor suffer from NCDs and the percentage is alarmingly
high. The sad part is they have limited access to good healthcare. Though it is
a pessimistic situation, we have no option but to work and address the problem
on urgent basis.
All this information is given in a press release.
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