Coimbatore : Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Monday urged the politicians, MPs and MLAs to propagate Ayushman Bharat, the National Health Protection Mission, launched recently by the Centre.

Though United Nations and World Health Organisation emphasised the need for universal healthcare coverage, statistics reveals that even among OECD countries, universal health coverage was not available in the US and Mexico, Purohit said.

After inaugurating the advanced third space endoscopy centre and advanced srthroscopy and reconstruction centre as well as the additional blocks for providing expanded facilities at the private VGM Hospital here, he said the Centre introduced the universal healthcare scheme, giving a cover for Rs 5 lakh per family per year. The targeted beneficiaries were the poor and vulnerable groups, he said.

The scheme was expected to make a big impact on raising the quality of life, he said. It would lead to timely treatments, improvement in health outcomes, patient satisfaction, raising productivity and efficiency and job creation.

However, such schemes were not reaching the beneficiaries due to lack of awareness and MPs, MLAs and politicians should propagate the insurance scheme, he said.

Tamil Nadu had always been an important centre for medical diagnosis and treatment. and was well known as the hub of medical tourism, providing affordable healthcare without compromising on quality, Purohit said.

Obesity was growing not only in the West but also here, affecting 5 per cent of the country’s population. Unhealthy processed food had become much more accessible, following the country’s continued integration in global food markets.

This, combined with rising middle class incomes, was increasing the average caloric intake per individual among the middle class and above households.

Treatment for this was possible mainly through modification of lifestyles and it was important to fight it right from childhood. A combination of yoga with dhyana, and the right kind of diet would probably be the best way forward to save huge medical bills, he added. Purohit also released a book, ‘You can also lose weight’ by VGM Hospital chairman Dr VG Mohan Prasad.

Deputy Speaker, Pollachi V Jayaraman, C Mahendran, MP, and BJP national secretary H Raja were also present.