World Health Day 2021: Building a fairer, healthier world is the theme this year

The World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on 7th April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The aim of this day is to ensure that everyone, everywhere realizes the right to good health. The theme of World Health Day 2021 is Building a fairer, healthier world.

On the occasion of this and to spread awareness, We are exploring the story opportunity for Ujala Cygnus Hospital, IHW Council, Vision Eye Centre, Paras Hospital, and Columbia Asia Hospital.

Dr (Col) R Ranga Rao, Chairman, Paras Cancer Centre, Paras Hospitals, Gurugram Said, “As we are amid of a pandemic this year while we celebrate Health Day, We should all be first grateful for our healthcare workers who are working day and night. Talking about the pandemic and how it has impacted cancer care. Probably we will never come to know the exact magnitude of human loss. Universally in India, nearly 50-80% of people in treatment for cancer have experienced some delay in care due to the pandemic. However, we are getting back to normal.

Many healthcare centers are once again encouraging patients to come in for routine care and treatment. Many have implemented safety protocols (like limitations on visitors, getting rid of waiting rooms and mandatory COVID-19 testing for certain patients and staff) that make it safe for most patients to come in for treatment or follow-up. Oncologists had requested the outstation cancer patients to get their chemotherapy done from their nearest hospital to avoid traveling in peak times of the pandemic. During COVID, old cancer patients couldn’t come for checkups which resulted in many recurrence cases. New cancer patients could not get into the hospital for getting their check-ups done as many centers were either shut or converted into the COVID ward.”

Dr. Tushar Grover, Medical Director, Vision Eye Centre, New Delhi Said, “On the World Health Day, even as we are confronted with a deadly pandemic, we must also use this occasion to pay due attention to our eye health. Given the pivotal role that our eyes play in our daily lives and that the slightest injury of permanent nature can be a debilitating handicap for our everyday functioning, we must value our ocular health as much our over-all physical health. Our eyes are the second most complex organ that we possess after the brain with about half of it dedicated to vision and sight. Therefore, these sensitive and delicate organs require constant care and caution.

For instance, while those with normal healthy eyes must guard against any unwanted entry of foreign body and avoid strong and harsh light, those meant to wear prescriptive glasses or lenses must wear them regularly as advised by their eye doctors. If one has any feeling of irritation, pain, itchiness, or any abnormal feeling coming from the eyes, one must immediately consult an expert and not take recourse to self-medication. Similarly, in case of any sense of weakening of eyesight or having troubles with seeing, one must immediately get their eyes thoroughly examined by a trained ophthalmologist. An eye examination can also reveal whether we have other lifestyle diseases such as blood pressure and diabetes. Some of the most common eye diseases that are found among us include refractive errors, squint, cataract, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, among many others. And we need to be utmost careful against them”

Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, Founder Director, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, said, ” The healthcare industry has taken the brunt of the Covid 19 pandemic in many ways last year, this year too the pressure on the hospitals will be that much higher because they are dealing with routine cases, routine surgeries as well, and addition to the recent 2nd wave of covid infections. So, it will be a tough fight to make sure that we treat all the patients. We will do our best. We are always ready to serve the patients and all of us But if, the cases keep increasing it will be a tough fight for the healthcare infrastructure which has already been put under peak strain last year and it will be tough for the doctors and staff to again go through that stress once more as the cases rise in delhi and north India.”

Dr Ramesh Chandra Joshi, Clinical Oncology, Columbia Asia Hospital, Palam Vihar Gurgaon said, “Cancer incidence in India in the past decade has increased alarmingly, and in most of the cases, people have succumbed to the disease only because it was detected late. There is an urgent need to make people aware of the risk factors that can lead to cancer in them as well as their symptoms as many of the cancers are curable when detected in early stages. This will help people in self-monitoring their health and screen in time. Oral and lung cancer are the commonest cancer in men in India while breast cancer is the commonest in Indian women. It is important to enhance the cancer treatment facilities like Surgical, Medical and Radiation available across the country to render better cancer care to the people.”

Mr Kamal Narayan Omer, CEO ,IHW Council, said, “This World Health Day comes at a very critical juncture in the history of humankind when the COVID-19 pandemic has affected 0.13 billion people globally. The pandemic has, for the first time in our recent history, brought health to the fore as an important public policy matter. While many hoped that the pandemic would be reined in with vaccination, lack of adherence to guidelines have proved to be counterproductive to the efforts made by our scientists and healthcare professionals. The pandemic underscores the importance of public participation in any policy measure. At the same time, it also highlights the importance of preparedness and increase in public spending to build infrastructure that will ensure equitable healthcare to all.

Currently, India needs to ramp up its healthcare infrastructure rapidly and ensure enough availability of oxygen and ventilators so that severe cases of infection can be treated optimally. It is also important to increase the coverage of COVID-19 vaccines and check the loopholes such as fraudulent enrolments and wastage to ensure that those who need it get it.The pandemic should not let the more basic health problems get less attention and priority. Half of India’s women and children suffer from anemia, a preventable health condition — Anemia-mukt Bharat must remain a high-priority health programme. Programs that work in favor of building a healthy nation — access to safe drinking water, nutritious food and clean air — must receive their due priority and be supported for holistic healthcare that is the base of building a fairer, healthier world for everyone.”

Dr Gurpreet Sandhu, President council of Healthcare & Pharma, said, ” Even as the ongoing pandemic has brought out in sharp relief the inequitable healthcare access that continues to plague our country despite the best efforts of the authorities, World Health Day is just the opportune occasion to renew the pledge to give ourselves a fairer and healthier India, and indeed the world. With the vaccination programme underway across the country, firstly, it is critical that an equal distribution of vaccines and the related machinery and personnel is ensured across the country. In other words, no one in the country, whether in big cities or rural pockets, should be deprived of a vaccine simply because of the timely unavailability of covid shots.

We should not forget that India is a leading manufacturer of covid vaccines and is even supplying to many countries abroad including those in Africa thereby doing its bit in terms of making a more equitable and healthy world. So, while India is helping the cause of a fairer healthier world, it must also do so for its own people within the country. Secondly, the recent reportage on vaccine hesitancy in several parts of the country reflects a lack of equal access to information and material on vaccines and their efficacy. So, there is a need to reenergize efforts to spread the ‘good word’ on the vaccines to every nook and corner of the country. This too would help in bringing health equity to the country.”

With the second wave of covid-19 already upon us, there is no doubt that the demand for ventilators will naturally witness a surge again. As compared to the last few months when the impact of the virus seemed to be tapering off resulting in a somewhat diminished need for hospitals and healthcare facilities to use ventilators. The recent resurgence in cases definitely augur a revival of demand for these lifesaving breathing devices. As single day cases continue to rise exponentially again reminiscent of last year creating an exigency of sorts, the ventilator manufacturers and component suppliers along with health authorities and industry bodies would need to join forces once again in a national effort to augment production sufficient enough to meet this upcoming rise in demand for ventilators.

And it is likely that the existing ICU ventilators may be concentrated towards Covid care leading to a good number of non-Covid patients with respiratory complications being put on portable and homecare ventilators. For these patients, telemedicine could go a long way in helping their attendants operate the machines efficiently while being supervised remotely. *Home healthcare with telemedicine is a boon for the already burdened healthcare infrastructure in India. Telemonitoring, a substantial part of Tele-Homecare is another advantage for these patients and attendants.* Also, those patients ready to be weaned off the ventilator could be easily helped in weaning off through telehealth mechanisms without the need for an expert on the spot, said Mr Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo TeleHealth