Prevention of NCDs begins with self -care: expert

New -delhi, October 14 (IANS). Developing a culture of ‘health literacy’ and ‘self-care’ for youth can help prevent non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and cancer in India, health experts said Tuesday. Experts expressed their opinion at the 3rd International Conference on Public Health and Nutrition (ICPHN 2025) organized by the non-profit organization Sukarya. Dr. Zoya Ali Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner of Nutrition and Adolescent Health, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, emphasized the focus of the national mission on preventative health and behavioral change. “We see a paradigm shift. Our effort is not just to cure disease, but to prevent the onset of non-communicable diseases by increasing youth health literacy and building a culture of self-care,” Rizvi said. He further added: “Our goal is to achieve every state and every adolescent with programs that not only suggest solutions but also enable ownership of health.” SatPathy, founder and president of Sukarya, said with Ians that the conference focuses on ‘adolescent health’, which includes their physical health, mental health, nutrition, behavioral problems, etc. By describing teens as ‘the greatest power of India’, SatPathy emphasizes the need to take care of their health as early as possible. “Adolescents and young girls have a lot of problems. If they are young, we want to take care of them. If they don’t take care of their health, it becomes a burden to life. We want a good, healthy and capable India,” he told Ians. Bonita Sharma, co-founder and CEO, Social Changemakers and Innovators, Kathmandu, Nepal, talked about the need to promote balanced nutrition. “Currently, in developing countries, youth are facing the triple burden of malnutrition. They are underweight, overweight and obese. There is also the problem of anemia, also known as hidden hunger or micronutrients,” Sharma told Ians. “The most important solution discussed so far is to use school as an access point to lay the foundation for the health and well -being of adolescents,” he said. He also emphasized that it is necessary to pay attention to the shortcomings in the implementation of policy. “There are many wonderful policies and programs, but when it comes to its implementation at the ground level, there are many challenges. There were also discussions about ensuring a strong monitoring mechanism,” Sharma said. -—IANS KR/