April 7 is celebrated as World Health Day which is aimed to create awareness around health issues that are of priority for the World Health Organisation.?
India witnessed an unprecedented nationwide lockdown in 2020 which led to mass migration, loss of livelihood among others due to Covid-19.?
Even the WHO acknowledges that Covid-19 has amplified gender, social and health inequities.?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said World Health Day is a day to ¡°reaffirm our gratitude and appreciation to all those who work day and night to keep our planet healthy¡±. He also reiterated the government¡¯s commitment to supporting research and innovation in healthcare.
#WorldHealthDay is a day to reaffirm our gratitude and appreciation to all those who work day and night to keep our planet healthy. It¡¯s also a day to reiterate our commitment to supporting research and innovation in healthcare,¡± PM Modi tweeted.
This year, World Health Day is being marked at a time when India and several countries around the world are witnessing another deadly surge of COVID-19 resulting in more anxieties and stress, which can affect the mental well-being of many.
The year 2020 when much of the world for the first time experienced a pandemic and lockdown, saw an explosion of mental health problems.
In fact, many have compared the rise in mental health issues as another pandemic that needs urgent attention but is often neglected.
A WHO report stated that around 7.5 per cent of people in India are victims of mental depression and the country contributes 15 per cent of global mental illness. This was well before the outbreak of the pandemic and it has only got worse from there.
ThinkRight.me, a leading meditation and mindfulness platform in India said in the past one year they have seen an increase in the number of people using their services.
"The past one year has been a time when the mental anxiety levels have really shot up and have led to people looking for solutions. What we found was that in May and April 2020 saw a massive increase in the number of people using our platform, which was the peak of the lockdowns, when a lot of people saw their livelihoods affected," Rajan Navani, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of JetSynthesys, which runs ThinkRight.me said.
According to him the solutions that people were looking for online differed based on the age group.
?"We found that those in the 18-25 age group were looking for stuff like personal growth, better sleep etc. In the age group of 46-55 we found that stress was their biggest issue. In the other age groups, we found that the issues were evenly spread out," Navani said.
He said that after the initial anxieties, people became relatively at ease and had almost started going to normal levels before the second wave struck.
"Just as the second wave of COVID began spreading we saw an increase in the number of users on our platform. In one way it is sad that people are forced to go through this once again. But on the other hand, we are happy that our platform has been able to reach out to over a million people and help them in this difficult times," he said.
A recent survey by the platform had found that most Indians are meditating for the pursuit of happiness, peace, and personal growth.
Navani said that in order to reduce stress, the first thing one can do is to take control of the mind.
"Most of our actions are reactionary. We see something happening and then react to it. Instead, we should be responsive, which means we should observe, understand, and then respond accordingly. The panic that comes in can be addressed in that way," he said.