“There is a heightened focus on preventive health along with curative health now. Awareness is very important to keep away non-communicable diseases (NCDs)”. This was stated by Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare as he released the “Healthy India Initiative/Swastha Bharat-ek pehal” magazine and launched the “No More Tension” Mobile Application, here today.The eBook versions of the magazine were also released. This launch, which is part of the Government’s Digital India programme, is in line with its commitment to prioritize public health and strengthen citizen-centric health services by leveraging India’s expanding mobile phone penetration.Speaking on the occasion, Shri Nadda stated the importance of stress management in the life of an individual and how stress affects everyone irrespective of age, gender, financial status, etc. The Health Minister said that people suffer from stress related problems due to their busy work life and hectic schedule, which in turn results in loss of productivity. “NCDs are acquired lifestyle ailments, which place a very high burden through the healthcare cost,” Shri Nadda added.
The Health Ministry is working on the theme of “Catch them Young” and is working on effecting behavior change among the young to keep away from such habits that cause NCDs, the Minister informed. He added that through pictorial books, health messages shall be brought out that will educate the children and youth about healthy living habits and activities.Highlighting the importance of such initiatives, Shri J P Nadda, further added, “These initiatives will strengthen our health communications initiatives and will bring us closer to people who need our services the most.” He said that soon all Health Mobile Apps launched by the Health Ministry shall be available at one click on the National Health Portal (NHP).The “Healthy India Initiative/Swastha Bharat-ek pehal”, a quarterly magazine, will cater to health related information and will raise awareness about healthy living. The magazine will cover different aspect of health: women and child health, elderly health, seasonal ailments, daily nutritional needs, safe medication practices, home remedies healthy living and many more. The magazine will be made available at all the government facilities up to the sub-centre and will be available free of cost. The e-version of this magazine is also available for download.
The current issue is in Hindi and English and the next version will be available in 13 other languages.Stress management mobile application “No More Tension” helps users to manage stress. The main objective of ‘No More Tension’ is to provide information to users regarding stress such as, what is stress, effects, symptoms and its management. The application allows the user to measure their stress level and learn various techniques like yoga and meditation to reduce stress from their lives. Currently, the application is available for download on Google play store and App store and will be available shortly on Windows.Also present in the function were Dr. (Prof) Jagdish Prasad, DGHS, Shri K B Agarwal, AS (HFW), Dr. Niraj Kulshrestha, Director, Central Health Education Bureau (CHEB), Dr. Nimesh Desai, Director, Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS) and other senior officers of the Ministry.