Why the ‘health of the nation’ is worrisome

The casualty toll from Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) is quite staggering and the state is, very rightly, taking some relevant measures to put things right, to the best of its ability. One of these is the setting-up of rehabilitation centres for alcohol and tobacco addicts in each district. We urge the state to ensure the effectiveness of this scheme in view of the alarming human costs of ill-health.

Some of the information provided by the health authorities points to a steep decline in the ‘health of the nation’. For instance, it is estimated that 350 Lankans die daily from NCDs; 150 of these are accounted for by heart attacks. Forty to fifty persons die from strokes and diabetes, while high blood pressure, cancer and kidney disease claim 150 more lives daily. For a comparatively small population, this is a worrisome toll and it stands to reason that the state as well as the public need to be bothered.

As the health authorities have rightly pointed out, alcohol and tobacco abuse are predominant factors in the alarming deterioration in the quality of health of sections of the people, but what should be equally thought-provoking is that some of these NCDs are fast catching on even among the rural people. While years ago, rural dwellers were prone to dismiss diseases, such as, diabetes as being the preserve of townsmen and of the rich, this is no longer true. NCDs are not only more prolific, they are also cutting across social and class barriers. Diabetics, for example, are quite common even among our provincial dwellers.

The average villager, it is true, is not prone to a sedentary life but could not be expected to be constantly careful about the quality of the food he consumes. Fast food, for instance, is increasingly popular in most parts of the country and could no longer be considered an exclusively urban phenomenon. Likewise, fizzy drinks are no longer the preserve of the urban dweller and the so-called social elite.

Accordingly, the time’s ripe to educate the public extensively on the dos and don’ts with regard to healthy eating. This is something the state needs to undertake in a major way in collaboration with the mass media. To the extent possible, the public should be weaned away from wheat flour-based products which are an ideal avenue, so to speak, for the contraction of diabetes.

Now that there is an abundance of paddy in the country, the possibilities must be increasingly explored of turning out rice-based products which easily appeal to local tastes and preferences. Our food research institutions need to put their minds to this task sooner rather than later.

However, another factor that needs to be contented with in regard to improving the health of the people is the ‘high pressure’ lifestyles that people in increasing numbers are compelled to adopt.

This is particularly true of the younger segment of our population and we need to dwell awhile on the disclosure by some medical authorities that one in four persons are prone to contract cancers of one kind or another. This is certainly bound-up with the fact that more and more people are compelled by their financial and other circumstances to not only work increasingly harder and longer hours at a desk but to do so in a ‘high pressure’ atmosphere. This is a most unfortunate trend and it would be advisable for the health authorities to impress on the public the need to take some time off work and engage in physical exercises which are, certainly, a restorer of good health.

Heart ailments, like cancer, are the product of fretful, long hours of work, bereft of relaxation, and we would be only stating the obvious by saying that this species of ill-health too is spreading fast among our citizenry. It is also caused by bad eating habits, such as, the habitual intake of junk food.

Likewise, the proliferation of mental ill-health should have us worried. As in the case of cancer, we are informed that one in four persons are subject to depression and such like debilitating ailments, and it should be clear that a vast amount of work needs to be done by way of improving the health of the public. As could be seen, physical and mental ill-health cannot be discussed in isolation from the average quality of life of the citizen.

Thus, advocating and adopting a wholesome lifestyle becomes necessary in the battle to ward off ill- health and unhappiness.