Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis and Akshay Kumar launch Jaanbachao campaign and film on healthy living

Jaanbachao.in campaign & film is an initiative by MCGM in association with Asian Heart Institute, Bhamla Foundation, Boston Scientific & Partnership to fight chronic diseases (PFCD)

Municipal Corporation of Grater Mumbai (MCGM) launched Jaanbachao.in- a campaign to promote healthy lifestyle featuring Mr. Akshay Kumar on Wednesday, 26th October in the city, in collaboration with Asian Heart Institute, India’s No. 1 cardiac care hospital, Bhamla Foundation, Boston Scientific & Partnership to fight chronic diseases (PFCD). The campaign is aimed at creating awareness on prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases.

As per the WHO report of 2015 Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) Global Survey, 1 in 4 Indians face the risk of death from an NCD before they hit the age of 70.

As a part of this campaign, a short film motivating citizens to adopt a healthy lifestyle was premiered at the launch. The film, directed by noted filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, and featuring Akshay Kumar, highlights simple tips which can be easily followed by people as a part of their daily routine.

“In life we fight many wars upfront, but when it comes to diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, we Indians are sadly in a denial mode. Both these killer diseases are hampering the health of todays young population. Jaanbachao film has put across five simple health tips which people can follow to fight with non-communicable diseases. We want to raise a healthy nation and prevention and awareness are the key factors to achieve this goal, ” said Hon. CM Devendra Fadnavis.

“India is burdened with a twin epidemic of infectious and NCDs. Even as we tackle diarrhoea and tuberculosis as causes of large scale death, we face the dubious distinction of being the heart disease and diabetes capital of the world. Unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption and stress along with poor health seeking behavior puts Indians at high risk for NCDs. The brunt of NCDs is borne by most people in their most productive years and it affects their families and the nation at large," said Dr. Ramakanta Panda, India’s top Cardiac Surgeon and Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai.

According to the WHO Global action plan, if these risk factors are addressed by changing lifestyle, it can reduce NCD related premature deaths by 50%. "It is very important to adopt a healthy lifestyle which includes regular exercise and healthy diet,” added Dr Panda.

“I would like to give one simple but very important health tip to people to remain healthy. Do not eat after 6.30 pm. This one habit will help you keep yourself safe from diseases such as diabetes and hypertension” said Akshay Kumar.

"We lose health for half our lives earning wealth, and the other half we lose wealth to get good health. This campaign aims to shake us from our couch potato roots and get us to get out there and do something now," said Asif Bhamla, President, Bhamla Foundation.