Young Indians dying of lifestyle diseases is unacceptable, says Shri Ramdas Athawale at 3rd CSR Health Impact Awards

Hon'ble Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Ramdas Athawale today expressed concern over the rising incidence of lifestyle diseases among young Indians and underlined the need for preventive measures at the 3rd edition of the prestigious CSR Health Impact Awards that honor path-breaking CSR initiatives in healthcare.

“Our government (is) for all – the government is supporting 125 crore people and it wants a good life for all. Today, the environment is changing very fast and we want to prevent our young generation from falling prey to these (drastic) changes. Young people in their 30s and 40s are dying of heart disease, this is absolutely unacceptable,” says Shri Ramdas Athawale, Hon'ble Minister of State, Social Justice and Empowerment while speaking at the event.

The 3rd edition of CSR Health Impact Awards was inaugurated at the Integrated Health & Wellbeing (IHW) Council today, continuing its pledge to mainstream social justice through healthcare. The 3rd edition of the awards was held at a time when the death of more than 100 children in Bihar’s encephalitis tragedy continues to haunt India’s healthcare system.

“I am happy to see that the journey to make everyone a part of the healthcare agenda has come so long. The child deaths in Bihar pose a question at the efficacy of our healthcare system. We are comfortably ignoring the states that require healthcare funds the most,” said Kamal Narayan, CEO, IHW Council inaugurating the 3rd edition of the awards.

Healthcare leaders also underlined the need for strengthening the primary healthcare system in India and advocated a more humane approach in medicine.

"The basic need is primary health and education. Medical education should take care of humanism. People talk in terms of technology, but they forget talking to the patient and this makes the patient becomes invisible. Cancer is not only a difficult specialty, it is a very expensive specialty," said V Shanta, Chairman, Adyar Cancer Institute.

The inaugural session of the award ceremony was held in the presence of Shri Athawale, along with leading healthcare practitioners, industry service providers, innovators, corporate professionals, and other stakeholders – all coming together to celebrate outstanding efforts of the corporate world towards the nation's well-being through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The award categories are divided in three groupings: LEADER, acknowledging organizations that have either spent or have been a primary partner of a CSR Health project that amounts upto 5 Crore; CHAMPION, acknowledging organizations that have either spent or have been a primary partner of a CSR Health project that amounts from 5 to 100 Crores; and GAME CHANGER, acknowledging organizations that have either spent or have been a primary partner of a CSR Health project that amounts to more than 100 Crores.