Alvi for making 'preventive healthcare a priority'

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said preventive healthcare was the best approach to control diseases and stressed on making the practice a national priority.

"Healthcare is often skewed towards curative medicine neglecting the preventive care. Why not make the people aware not to fall ill in the first place?" the president said in his address at a conference titled 'Contemporary medicines, health technologies & vaccines for emerging public health risks'.

The 11th annual public health conference held at Health Services Academy (HSA) focused on improving access to medical services and vaccines to overcome health-related challenges. President Alvi said research had shown that the interventions aimed at prevention and lifestyle changes could significantly control the spread of several communicable diseases.

He proposed to train the medical graduates in their first six months on preventive healthcare only, so as to reduce the rise of diseases and burden on health system. He mentioned that for example, Hepatitis A could be prevented through use of clean drinking water and sanitation, while the malnutrition and stunting in infants could be controlled through breastfeeding. Also, diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle, he added.

The president said awareness among people on the 'taboo topics' such as population control and breast cancer could be made by guiding them about the use of contraceptives and self-diagnosis, respectively.