Lifestyle Diseases Hitting Society Hard, Says Minister Kishan
Kishan Reddy stressed that 95 out of every 100 individuals required medical attention, often without realising it, due to lifestyle-induced health issues.
Hyderabad: Union minister G. Kishan Reddy on Sunday highlighted the growing health challenges faced by people due to changing lifestyles, underscoring the heavy burden this places on poor and middle-class sections of society.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Prime Minister’s Jan Aushadhi Marketing and Distribution Warehouse in Telangana alongside Governor Jishnu Dev Varma. At a separate event, Kishan Reddy welcomed leaders from various political parties in the Jubilee Hills Assembly segment into the BJP.
Kishan Reddy stressed that 95 out of every 100 individuals required medical attention, often without realising it, due to lifestyle-induced health issues. He pointed out that retired citizens are forced to spend their pensions on medical expenses, while poor and middle-income families often exhausted their lifetime savings simply to meet healthcare costs. This scenario highlights the urgent need for accessible and affordable healthcare solutions.
Kishan Reddy praised the Centre’s introduction of wellness centres in urban slum clinics. These centres play a crucial role in providing preventive healthcare and early medical intervention to vulnerable populations.
Alongside this, the Jan Aushadhi scheme has been launched to ensure medicines are available at drastically reduced prices — often 50 per cent to 90 per cent cheaper compared to regular medical shops — making essential drugs affordable for the common man.
The minister emphasised that these Jan Aushadhi centres not only provide medicines at lower cost but also generate employment opportunities for unemployed youth by expanding the network of affordable medicine outlets. He expressed his satisfaction at the inauguration of the new Jan Aushadhi depot in Telangana, marking a vital step in strengthening the distribution and availability of low-cost medicines.
Kishan Reddy also highlighted the achievements under the Ayushman Bharat programme, which provides free medical insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh annually to every individual, including free treatment for senior citizens above 70 years. He urged the Telangana government to effectively implement such health schemes in the state, noting that the previous administration had neglected these programmes.