Doctors should advise patients on a healthy lifestyle and rational use of drugs to prevent diseases, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said Friday.
"The success of a doctor lies in ensuring that a patient does not return to the hospital after recovery. For this the doctor should educate the patient on the lifestyle to adopt in order to avoid falling ill again," Harsh Vardhan told doctors and officials at the Safdarjung Hospital here.
Observing that about 80 percent of health care is about prevention, he cited a World Health Organization research finding which stated that 40-45 percent of the diseases are due to physical inactivity.
Harsh Vardhan said doctors should develop a consciousness in patients on the importance of yoga and exercise in leading lives free of ailments and with dignity.
The health minister observed that while medicines were distributed free of cost, poor patients still had to pay for certain services like CT scans and MRIs.
"I think these services should be made free because the poor certainly deserve it as part of their treatment," he said.
He asked doctors to promote rational use of essential drugs.
