Jitendra Singh calls for making preventive healthcare, diabetes prevention national priority
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also a Professor of Medicine and Diabetologist, has called for making preventive healthcare and prevention of diabetes a national priority. He also stressed that the growing burden of diabetes in rural India requires a community-led, technology-enabled and data-driven response.
Addressing the inauguration of the RSSDI ‘Diabetes Rural Outreach Digital Portal’ and launch of VISHWAS, the Diabetes Awareness Video Library, the minister said with more than 70 per cent of India’s population below the age of 40, protecting the health and productive potential of the country’s young population is essential to the vision of India@2047.
The programme organised by the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDI) on Independence Day, brought together leading experts and stakeholders from the diabetes and healthcare ecosystem.
Dr Anuj Maheshwari, President, National RSSDI; Dr Rakesh Parikh, Secretary General, National RSSDI; Dr Banshi Saboo, Chair, IDF South-East Asia; and Rizwan Koita, Chairman, NABH, were among the prominent participants. The RSSDI Rural Outreach Programme and VISHWAS are aimed at taking diabetes awareness, screening, treatment, follow-up and digital health resources closer to communities.
Singh said India has made remarkable progress in healthcare, scientific research and digital innovation, and the next important step is to ensure that these advances reach every citizen, particularly people living in rural and underserved communities.
He said rural India is no longer untouched by the diabetes epidemic and that early detection, timely intervention, lifestyle modification and sustained follow-up are essential to reduce the burden of the disease and its complications.
Describing the RSSDI Rural Outreach Programme as an example of how professional medical societies can complement national health efforts, the Minister said that adopting villages and creating a structured model for awareness, screening, treatment and long-term follow-up can bring specialist expertise closer to communities that need it most. The programme has already reached around 30 villages across several States, with further expansion planned in the coming years.
Singh said the newly inaugurated digital data portal marks an important milestone in strengthening community healthcare through systematic documentation. A standardised digital platform can enable continuity of patient care, monitoring of outcomes and generation of valuable evidence for future public health strategies.
The Minister called for greater integration among Government agencies, academic institutions, technology partners, private organisations and local healthcare workers to create more effective and sustainable models for prevention and management of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases.
He said that collaboration across sectors can help supplement each other’s efforts and deliver better outcomes in community healthcare.
