Health is an individual right and responsibility, say experts

If citizens must have better health, then it requires support from the public as also from the government, said the panellists at a discussion on “One health for all” organised by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) here on Sunday.

Doctors, animal health and agricultural researchers and administrators shared their concerns about what determined the health of a nation’s citizens.  The experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic were discussed.

If Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan spoke of the challenges the State faced, then the Indian Council of Medical Research senior scientist, Kamini Walia, voiced concerns of overuse of antibiotics, which caused serious health issues. 

Agrinnovate Indian Ltd. CEO Praveen Malik wanted information dissemination on potential threat to human population from dead birds. Lack of awareness about food sources led to overexploitation of precious resources, said Konda Reddy Chavva, assistant FAO representative, regional office for Asia and the Pacific. 

According to Carlo Fodda, research director at Alliance of Biodiversity and International Centre for Tropical Centre for Tropical Agriculture, Rome, warming of the oceans and the unusual changes in the weather patterns in Europe, deforestation and exhausting soil by cultivating just a few crops had triggered malnutrition. With around 40% of the world’s soil degraded, biodiversity was lost, he said. 

Elisabeth Faure, Country director of U.N. World Food Programme, India, urged action to address the issue of malnutrition and obesity that India faced.

Diabetologist V. Mohan pointed out that non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension resulted in deaths. In the pandemic, uncontrolled diabetes was a major reason for many deaths, he said. 

Vinod Kumar Paul, member, NITI Aayog, said the nation had a responsibility towards its citizens but then individuals should share the responsibility to be healthy. The country had managed the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other nations despite the challenges. The government had not let down its citizens, he said.

Sowmya Swaminathan, MSSRF chairperson, said the aim of the discussion was to find ways to strengthen the capacity of communities to detect and report diseases quickly so that the issue did not escalate.