Unhealthy lifestyle leads to unhappy future: experts

 

KARACHI: A new study by health experts suggests family medicines can help in reducing the burden on tertiary care hospital.

Speaking at the Health Media Conference at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), family health expert Dr Marie Andrades said family medicine is the integral part of medical care, however, she added most patients are unaware when it comes to what healthcare they need. 

Most of them need do not need tertiary care hospitals when they can do well with just primary care treatment, she added. 

Dr Shahab Abid, who is a stomach and liver diseases expert, said that 10 per cent of the population is suffering from liver problems with the main cause being unsafe drinking water.

Speaking about the fifth most populous country in the world, Dr Lumaan Shiekh said 175 mothers per 100,000 die during childbirth. 

While speaking about the children under the age of five years, paediatrician Dr Arshalooz Rehman said that diarrhoea is one of the major causes of death among children. 

 

According to Rahman, promotion of vaccines and immunisation are important to improve quality of life. 

While discussing heart and cardiac issues in the country, Dr Osman Faheem said there is no concrete data when it comes to the number of cases present in the country. 

Speaking about the social taboos and crisis situation that arises in healthcare,  Dr Unab Khan, who is working on adolescent medicine, said, there is no culture of discussing issues such as sexuality and other gender-based issues.

He added that despite adopting western eating habits, we have not adopted other aspects of western lifestyles such as walking and exercising, etc.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Asim Bilgrami said that their job as medical professionals was to provide patient care and provide them with complete information regarding the disease, its cure and prevention.