World Health Day
: As the pandemic is far from over and new variants of the coronavirus emerge, doctors are stressing on the importance of preventive healthcare measures for non-communicable diseases.
While factors such as your age, gender, and family history for certain diseases are outside our control, there are many important risk factors that are within our power to change. With the mantra that ‘prevention is better than cure’, healthcare practitioners are urging citizens to pursue screening tests, follow-up on vaccinations, and make healthy lifestyle habits to prevent or slow down the course of an illness.
“When the first wave of COVID-19 started, the management of non-communicable diseases went for a toss as there was a fear of contracting the virus in hospitals and clinics. This led to the deferment of routine health checks, and follow-ups of chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, asthma, etc. However, at the same time, teleconsultation made a large positive impact in managing non-communicable diseases,” said Dr. Sudarshan S., consultant physician, Medall Healthcare.
Doctors hail the rise in telecommunications as it has led to more people seeking advice on non-communicable diseases, especially during subsequent waves of COVID–19. “Physicians during COVID-19 waves were phenomenal in not only managing COVID patients, but also incorporating teleconsultation in their practice. Elective surgeries were postponed and were mostly carried out once the waves settled, to prevent spread of infection,” Dr. Sudarshan added.
Preventive measures can also be cost-effective when compared to exorbitant hospital fees that most patients are saddled with. It’s not just the elderly who should schedule regular check-ups.
“Preventive health check-ups help in the early detection of various non-communicable diseases at an early stage. It can help in the detection of lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and diabetes as well as various silent cancers. The frequency of health check-ups depends on the patient’s age, risk factors and current health status. They can can prevent complications and even in many cases, a patient may avoid surgery. As a result, the patient will be able to save time and money,” said Dr. Ravi Shankarji Kesari, Physician - Internal Medicine, Apollo Spectra, Koramangala.
Vaibhav Maloo, managing director, Enso Group added, “The pandemic showed us the power of immunisation, even without 100% efficiency against viruses. Immunisation still remains one of the best ways one can protect not only their own generation but the future ones too. In other words, if you vaccinate, you help wipe out diseases. Even the body prepares well to fight several non-communicable diseases.”
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