The Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu recently, called upon the people, particularly the youth, to adopt a healthy lifestyle and avoid sedentary living and junk food in view of the growing incidence of non-communicable diseases in the country.

Addressing the scientists of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics after visiting its facilities in Hyderabad, he said that a few years ago, WHO data has attributed 61 per cent of all deaths in India to NCDs like heart disorders, cancer and diabetes.

Calling for collective efforts to promote awareness among the people, particularly school and college students, on the negative impact of sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy dietary habits, the Vice President stressed the need to promote organic farming, revisit our traditional food habits and promote the consumption of protein-rich food for better health outcomes. Cautioning against the fad for instant food, he quipped “instant food means constant disease.”

He lauded CDFD for identifying novel genetic mutations for more than 10 disorders in India, including the identification of 4 new genes, which would be helpful in genetic counselling and management of diseases. During the visit, the Vice President also inaugurated the ‘Paediatric Rare Genetic Disorders’ laboratory at CDFD.

Noting that CDFD has provided services for genetic testing and counselling of patients with genetic diseases to more than 60,000 families since its inception, Naidu lauded the institution for establishing nationwide collaborations with several clinical centres for the evaluation of patients with unexplained genetic disorders. He asked CDFD to create awareness among the people through media on the services it was offering on genetic diseases.