Suneel Vatsyayan
Value Young India: Make Strong And Healthy Policies
Category: Alcohol Industry, Development, Global, Marketing, Non-Communicable Diseases, Policy, Prevention, Youth
Designing strong and healthy policy measures to prevent Noncommunicable Diseases(NCDs, lifestyle related diseases) is a step towards community well-being which can facilitate young people to make healthy choices in a market-driven and compelling environment.
Every third person in India is a youth.By 2020, the average individual in the county will be 29 years old, making India the youngest country in the world. India is set to become the world’s youngest country with 64 percent of the population in the working age group. And young India is at risk.
Young people in general think that consuming an alcoholic beverage casually after work or at dinner is safe and common. They are unaware – due to aggressive alcohol marketing – of the fact that there is no safe amount of alcohol intake, according to WHO. For instance, alcohol and erratic life styles cause obesity and heighten the danger of high blood pressure. Respecting one’s body, mind and making healthy choices means taking active steps towards well-being.
According to the Annual Health Survey 2012 conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India , less than 62.5 million people in India use alcoholwith the per capita consumption being around four litres per adult per year.
A recent study conducted by All Indian Institute Medical Sciences (AIIMS) revealed that stress and alcohol are primary immediate triggers for stroke among Indian young and middle aged men . Stroke as a medical condition used to be associated with old age but is now affecting young- and middle-aged Indians. Risk factors include smoking, alcohol use, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity.
Alcohol and heart disease
The New Delhi Declaration adopted at the thirty-first Meeting of Ministers of Health of the WHO South-East Asia Region this year is relevant in the context of young India and the burden of NCDs. Noncommunicable diseases account for 55% of the 14.5 million total deaths in the Region; cardiovascular diseases alone account for 25% of all deaths (3.6 million).
NCDs have potentially serious socio-economic consequences.The rapid rise in NCDs is predicted to impede India’s poverty reduction initiatives. People live longer in India but suffer more on account of non-communicable diseases. People with high blood pressure are at the greatest risk of ill health and pre-mature death, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study, with tobacco use as the second biggest danger, and alcohol use third. Among young people, aged between 15 and 49, alcohol is the most likely cause of disability and an early grave.
Alcohol and NCDs
Nada India is happy to join the efforts of HRIDAY (Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to work towards establishing healthy and strong policy measures to promote NCD prevention and control and to work towards minimising the growing burden of NCDs in India .Nada India is ready to take a step further towards community well-being.