According to WHO, 40 million people died just because of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development is the recognition of NCDs as it kills 70% of all deaths globally. To control the disease burden, it becomes essential to take steps to stop and save people from these diseases.
Children are the future of the nation and now the child of ages 8-10 start experiencing diseases like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and obesity. So it becomes crucial to teach them about the prevention, causes, and symptoms of all common diseases. Children are very receptive and malleable at that age and their words can have a greater impact on their families. Prof Shridhar Dwivedi from NHI said that right knowledge will be empowering the children and awareness about these diseases can be very useful in the long run. Dwivedi also started an initiative called “School Health Lecture”, in which health advisors visit schools to aware students with the importance of healthy lifestyle and how we can save ourselves from the heart attack, dengue fever, tuberculosis, personal hygiene, menstrual hygiene, and diabetes.
2010 survey reports revealed that awareness programs are not enough to teach students about healthy lifestyle and risk factors of NCDs. The areas of least knowledge included passive smoking as a major risk factor for NCDs.
The dream to make healthier India is a challenge for health advisors as healthcare education is not good in our country. India needs to work collaboratively towards healthier India by making such cost-effective initiatives mandatory in all schools.
