New Delhi: At a time when India aspires to be a developed nation by 2047, the country cannot allow the energy of its younger generation to go waste due to diabetes, obesity and others which are spreading in epidemic proportions, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual conference of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group of India (DIPSI) here, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the menace of obesity more than once.
“The relevance of today’s subject is that type-2 diabetes mellitus in India is spreading like an epidemic, and so also obesity. So, these all metabolic disorders… every third Indian has a fatty liver,” said Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology.
Observing that the country has become the fifth-largest economy in the world and aims to become number one, Singh said more than 70 per cent of the country’s population is below the age of 40.
The architects of India 2047 are the generation which is now growing up to reach the prime of its energy and expertise by that year, he said.
If the energy of youth is allowed to get squandered away because of the metabolic disorders, it would not only be a disservice to a medical cause but also to the service of the nation, said Singh, a medical doctor himself.
“Because, it virtually becomes a national responsibility to preserve their energies, preserve India’s huge energy pool for a higher purpose,” he said.
The DIPSI and its leader Padma Shri recipient Seshiah is working to prevent diabetes during pregnancy itself, Singh said.
The union minister said that PM Modi also spoke about outcomes of obesity in childhood.
Singh stressed on the importance of spreading awareness against obesity and diabetes.
Preventing diabetes in pregnancy is critical to control its rising burden, he said, and underscored the urgent need for early diabetes screening, particularly in pregnant women, to curb its rapid spread.
Talking about the healthcare sector, he called for greater public-private collaboration, citing India’s recent breakthroughs in space, nuclear energy, and biotechnology as examples of successful partnerships.
