Full benefits of Demographic dividend possible only if health of people is ensured: Raksha Mantri in his virtual address to National Academy of Medical Sciences
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh stressed on the need for comprehensive health including physical, mental and Spiritual domains to fully realise the benefits of demographic dividend. Virtually addressing the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) on its 63rd Foundation Day in New Delhi on April 21, 2023, he said the country’s strong and youthful human resources must be nurtured properly to leverage their strength in making country stronger and self-reliant.
He complemented the NAMS for its contribution to the growth of Indian health sector, Medical education and research, as well as formulation of relevant health policies and establishment of 6 AIIMS all over the country.
Highlighting health as a key element in the development of any nation, Shri Rajnath Singh said overall development of the country is possible only if its citizens are healthy. The healthier people will be able to work for the progress of the country in a better manner and that is why health sector is key for our country. It is for this reason doctors and medical practitioners are respected and revered.
Quoting Swami Vivekanand he said “ Guru should be like doctor who could understand his disciple and his nature and could impart knowledge to disciple which is most appropriate for him” he said that Guru has been given supreme position in our culture as it is through Guru one can have glimpse of God.
Listing out the steps taken by government in ensuring health for all, Shri Rajnath Singh called on the medical fraternity to focus more on research of public health related issues. “During Covid we all realized how important research is in the health sector. The benefits of any research done in the health sector are not only quick, but with that research we can help our country as well as many countries of the world. Even during Covid, we saw how the vaccines made by Indian scientists and researchers benefited not only us but the whole world’, he added.
Shri Rajnath Singh elaborated on the importance of the broader aspects of health which goes beyond having no illness and is linked with the vision of ‘Healthy India, Strong India’. He added “According to World Health Organisation (WHO), good health encompasses complete physical, mental and social well-being of a person. That is, health does not just mean that you do not have any disease, health is a much wider concept than this. It includes healthy life style, physical fitness, mental health, and social well-being.”
Raksha Mantri highlighted the significance of social well-being which he viewed as the third dimension of health besides physical and mental health. He expressed concern that the social well-being is facing challenges as people move from their native places to urban centers and other places in search of work. Cut off from their roots, they feel lonely and insecure which impacts their health adversely. In addition, nuclear family and sub nuclear family have become more prominent with even single parenting emerging on the scene.
Shri Rajnath Singh added that such developments, if left unchecked, may endanger the institution of marriage and single person households may become common. “It may appear to be a matter of freedom of choice, but in reality it is a big social crisis pushing human beings towards loneliness which need to be avoided. Many medical studies indicate that loneliness is the root cause of physical, mental and psychological problems of a person. We need to introspect whether we are destroying our social well-being in the name of so called modernity,” he said.
Shri Rajnath Singh was of view that spiritual health is the fourth dimension of health besides physical, mental and social well-being. Elaborating upon the spiritual health which is based on having empathy with fellow human beings, he added “Today, it is very necessary for a human being to be spiritually healthy. Here when I am talking about spirituality, I do not mean any kind of religious rituals. By spirituality, I mean that state of human mind, when it starts experiencing oneness with whole creation and connects itself with the whole world. That is, when a man starts considering the happiness and sorrow of the society as his own, then that man becomes spiritual, in my view”, he added.