Vijayawada: “Change your food habits and stay healthy. Walk for 30 minutes a day. As a rule of thumb, a family of four should not consume more than 600 grams of salt, two litres of edible oil, and three kilograms of sugar per month if they want to stay away from doctors.”
This was the advice given by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu during a press conference at the Secretariat on health and wellness. Using a PowerPoint presentation, Naidu emphasised the importance of healthy living and said that studies indicate following such a regimen can significantly reduce the risk of several diseases.
He also encouraged the people to practice meditation and spend at least 30 minutes a day in prayer—be it in a puja room, mosque, or church—to reduce stress and prevent illness.
Citing recent health data, Naidu pointed out that cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, respiratory illnesses, infectious diseases, chronic kidney disease, and cancer are among the top 10 health concerns in Andhra Pradesh. Together, these account for nearly 80 percent of the state’s disease burden. Cardiovascular diseases alone affect 18 to 22 percent of the population, followed by diabetes (12–15 percent), and respiratory ailments (10–12 percent).
Naidu announced a collaboration between the Health department, Tata MD, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to design the Digital Nerve Centre (DiNC)—a comprehensive health initiative aimed at improving public health outcomes.
He also unveiled plans for a Global Medicity in Amaravati, which will house world-class hospitals and promote health tourism. The Centre plans to develop 25 such Medicities across India under a public-private partnership (PPP) model. The Andhra Pradesh government has earmarked 200 acres in Amaravati for the project. Qatar, which has pledged a USD 10 billion investment in India, will also be brought on board for this initiative, Naidu said.
The DiNC pilot programme will launch in Kuppam on June 15. The project aims for 100 percent Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) creation and integration of all electronic health records. Citizens will receive health advice via a dedicated app, along with access to telemedicine and specialist consultations.
Additionally, DiNC will employ advanced analytics to predict diseases, raise preventive health awareness, send alerts for missed antenatal check-ups, and provide other health-related services.
The first phase will cover five mandals in Kuppam constituency over a three-month period. Phase two will extend the initiative to all 31 mandals of Chittoor district. Depending on the model’s performance in terms of effectiveness, public satisfaction, and scalability, it will be rolled out across all 26 districts of the state over the next 26 months.
