People should be encouraged to make healthier choices and follow lifestyle patterns that foster good health, Union Health Minister J P Nadda has said.
Nadda, who is also the President of World Health Assembly, said this after inaugurating a photo-exhibition on Yoga titled 'Yoga for All, Yoga for Health' on the sidelines of the 68th World Health Assembly here yesterday.
He expressed gratitude on the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly declaring June 21 the International Day of Yoga, recognising Yoga as a "holistic system for achieving health and well-being."
A record 177 countries co-sponsored the resolution, which the UN adopted less than three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the idea.
"This is a testimony to the wide recognition and popularity Yoga has in the World," he added.
Nadda thanked Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organisation who was present at the event, for adopting this resolution.
Chan said she regularly practices yoga- the 5,000-year-old Indian physical, mental and spiritual practice that aims to transform body and mind .
Nadda also invited Geneva-based Missions of all countries to join an event that the Permanent Missions of India in Geneva in collaboration with the UN Office here will be organising on June 21 to mark the first observance of the International Day of Yoga.
He held several bilateral meetings with countries on the sidelines of the Assembly including the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden.
