The World Health Organisation defines health as not merely an absence of disease or infirmity but a state of complete physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of a part or all of a person. As we can see from the above two definitions, Health and Disease are two sides of a same coin, and are extremely relative. (Talking of the word ‘relative’, I once came across a superb line somewhere, “Success is relative; more the success, more the relatives!!!”)
Just as we cannot prevent visit by our in-laws to our (peaceful) homes during the festivals (I sometimes wonder if every religion of the world has the same number of festivals we Hindus have), we cannot avoid the occasional disease states as well. But we can as well take some precautionary measures (alas, the same cannot be said of the example I have cited), like proper rest, adequate and nutritious food, balanced diet, regular exercise, vaccinations and other self-care and public health measures.
Of late, there has been a spurge of various non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in our society. Diseases like Hypertension (elevated blood pressure), Diabetes, Asthma and various types of cancers take a heavy toll on our country’s economy as well as on the man-hours, apart from devastating the lives of the sufferers. What is important is that we just look at the problem as the tip of the ice-berg ,while the majority is largely hidden below. No surprises that the Government, both local and central, have given so much importance for detection of such NCDs in our community and their early and sustained treatment, free of cost, to avoid complications.