KARACHI, April 7: Speakers at a meeting, on Sunday, urged the people to get involved in more physical activities and to exercise regularly if they want to avoid diseases and keep themselves healthy.

They were speaking at the 11th International Children’s Health Conference, organized jointly by the Hamdard Public School and Hamdard Foundation, to celebrate International Health Day.

They urged the masses to have a healthy diet comprising vegetables, maintain normal weight and get involved in physical activities so that they can live a healthy, productive life.

Federal Health Minister, Dr Abdul Malik Kasi, said that the government was trying to provide basic health facilities and high-quality services to the citizens. He said that this year, the theme selected by the World Health Organization for the World Health Day is “Move For Health.”

He said that scientific inventions and technological advancement achieved by Man had drastically changed people’s lifestyles. The amount of physical labour that a person used to do has decreased, due to which diseases such as cardiovascular complications, hypertension, diabetes, etc, are on the rise.

Stressing that physical activities be made an integral component of the health programme, he said that he was happy that children were aware of the importance of sports, exercise, etc, to maintain good health. He also referred to the speeches made by various students before him.

The Islamabad-based WHO representative, Dr Khalif Bile Mohamud, said that while it was the duty of the government, that was also assisted by the WHO in certain fields, to provide health facilities to the people, they should also try to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Tracing the history of the World Health Day, he said that the constitution of the WHO was adopted on April 7, 1948, and that it is presently accepted by over 192 states and territories. He said that health is a basic human right.

Highlighting the fact that passive smoking is as dangerous as active smoking, he urged the people, particularly children, to have the courage to tell smokers not to smoke near nonsmokers. He also said that the WHO planned to certify WHO-friendly schools that observe its guidelines. The WHO would assist such schools in certain fields, he added.

Hamdard Foundation chief, Sadia Rashid, said that the biggest strides taken in the progress against disease had been made due to prevention. She said that many vaccines that had been developed over the years had proven that “an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure”.

She said that the foundation was trying to spread awareness regarding health issues among the masses, in general, and among the children, in particular, who were the future of the nation.

Other speakers on the occasion said that people, particularly children, were getting addicted to TV sets and computers, that, no doubt, were important tools to get information in today’s world. But sufficient time should also be taken out to undertake outdoor activities and physical exercises, they urged.

They said that many simple diseases could be avoided or cured by spending very little funds, but the government could not allocate sufficient funds to social-sector facilities such as health and education, as these were at the bottom of its priority list, while a major chunk of the budget was spent on non- developmental sectors.

They criticized the indifferent attitude of the government, due to which parks, playgrounds and open spaces had been converted into a concrete jungle and footpaths had been encroached upon by vendors. This left people very few places to go for exercise and walking, the speakers added.

The messages of Director-General of the WHO, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland and WHO Regional Director, Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, were also read on the occasion.

Child delegates from other countries and all over the country, including Rayan Mohammad Tasji (Saudi Arabia), Buky Da-Cocodia (Nigeria), Nimesha Navodi (Sri Lanka), Batool Naqvi and Mubashar Noor (Rawalpindi), Syed Abdullah (Lahore), Fazeelat Jahan and Mumtaz Paracha (Peshawar), Farya Babar and Mohammad Akmal (Quetta) and Usman Hassan, Nadir Ali, Rimsha Malik, Atique Mahmood and Samar Sultan (Karachi) spoke. Hafiz Shoaib Ahmad, Munira Gulzar, Hafiz Pervaiz Ahmad, Amna Khalid, Mustafa Afridi and others also spoke.

Students of Hamdard Public School presented a tableau depicting a court scene where vital organs of the human body — brain, heart, liver, kidney, lungs, etc, — had moved the court against a man for making them sick due to his unhealthy lifestyle.