On the international day for Yoga, we want to take the opportunity to reiterate the benefits of the practice of Yoga. Our ancestors have been practicing Yoga for thousands of years. It was one of the corner stone of our healthcare system. It is really interesting to see United Nations to declare June 21st as the International Day of Yoga. It is a testament to the benefits of Yoga as well as its international acceptability.
Almost everyone working in corporate India would have seen at least once in their tenure. Most CSR activities or corporate wellness activities, seem to incorporate at least one blood donation camp. Blood donation is relatively new concept. Ancient texts have shown instances of blood transfusion in Egypt and Greece. Even ancient Indian texts talk about it.
A few days ago I met a consultant who also happened to be my neighbor. After exchanging a few pleasantries he surprised me by asking me a lot of questions on the state of the Dental Business in the country. Now I loathe to think of Dental or Healthcare as a business. And somehow the tone of the conversation was cringe worthy. He then went on to talk very knowledgeably about the average revenue per bed and how the industry was poised for growth. I suspect he is working with Venture Capitalists(VC’s) to prepare an assessment of the industry. At that instant I had an epiphany. I felt terrible from inside as if something was wrong.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Zika virus to be a Public Health Emergency of International concern, last year. Sometime ago we had covered how the US had dealt with the last few carriers of the virus by spraying the Miami-Dade county aerially with the insecticides.
Now, Zika is in India with three cases between November 2016 and February 2017, in Gujarat, coming to light, it is high time that people are aware of this disease.Moreover, the fact that none of the Zika infected patients, their spouses or relatives had traveled to any country with Zika virus transmission, is making it more of a cause of concern. That may mean someone with the virus had traveled to India and was not detected at emigration.
India continues to fare poorly on most health parameters. Not surprisingly it was ranked 154th among 195 countries by medical publication Lancet. No surprises that high growth and economic prosperity has not triggered a improvement in the health parameters. India lags on key parameters like Life Expectancy, Infant Mortality. Under 5 mortality and Maternal Mortality.