The future of health care in India should focus on prevention rather than emphasizing too much on cure, say experts from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. This came out during the launch of a Book, Health Promotion: Need for Public Health Activism on Tuesday.
In India around 25 percent of the population lives below poverty line, in deplorable conditions, as a result of which communicable diseases accounts for 38 percent of the disease burden with large variation across states as per official records.
Taking this grim situation into account Dr Amarjeet Singh of School of Public Health PGI said, “Health promotion is about strengthening of individuals' body constitution to reduce the chances of disease occurrence. This approach attempts to create conditions conducive to promotion of healthful conditions. Health promotion requires action at various levels before disease onset to achieve optimum health for the masses.”
The book which was launched provides comprehensive information on the subject at one place .The book contains six sections, each dealing with aspects of health promotion. The book contains wide array of issues pertaining to health promotion, e.g., theories, policies, legislations, government efforts, ethics, role of mass media, role of e-technology, health promotion at different ages, in different settings etc.
“This approach entails honoring of the rights of the individuals to get what they deserve from the government for creation of healthy society. It also requires that individuals shoulder their responsibilities to exhibit healthy behavior. Health promotion efforts in the society have to be commensurate with the changing global scenario, with due attention paid to the local issues,” added Dr Singh while introducing the book.
Contributors of the book include students and faculty from PGIMER and Panjab University Chandigarh. Some chapters have been contributed by students and faculty of other medical colleges. In particular, research students have been drawn upon as original contributions for the chapters. Simple and lucid language makes reading enjoyable. It also contains the practical tips for self health care through various illustrations.
Dr Jeyashree Kathiresan, Senior Resident at the School of Public Health and one of the main contributors to the book said, “This is one text book the need for which was always there because in India the curriculum of community medicine consisted mostly of studies based on the western model.”
She added, “The book has case study from the Indian social milieu and it explores the scope of community medicine from the local point of view. The USP of the book is that is has been localized and it will give a better insight to students studying community medicine in India for academic purpose and in depth knowledge to general readers about the problems that might be faced by them in the contemporary society.”
The book will certainly fill the void of post-graduate (PG) level writing in the discipline of Public Health also known by the names –Community Medicine, Social and Preventive Medicine. So far, these subjects have been constrained by a serious lack of PG level books. Most of the books are undergraduate (UG) level and that too not based on any original work of the authors.
The book is expected to be of immense use for UG and PG students as well as faculty of Public Health in medical colleges. Health administrators, policy makers and medical fraternity in diverse settings will also be benefited by the book said Dr Sonu Goel, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health, PGI.