GOPIO International Health Council, The Consulate General of India in New York, TV Asia with support from GOPIO Central Jersey and Connecticut Chapters, Indian Health Camp of NJ, Princeton Lions Club and Central Jersey Business Organization hosted the third Indian Diaspora Health Summit on Saturday, October 12, 2019, at TV Asia Auditorium in Edison, NJ. Deputy Consul General Shatrughna Sinha attended the event as a Chief Guest along with CEO and Chairman of TV Asia Padma Shree Dr. H.R. Shah, Piscataway Township Councilman Kapil Shah, health professionals and community leaders from various organizations.
After successful second health summit at the Consulate General in New York in October 2018, GOPIO International Health Council held this third health summit which was an entire day event to include comprehensive discussion on medical, dental, mental health, alternative medicine, life-style modifications and wellness and yoga sessions from various renowned experts from the tri-state.
The Indian Diaspora Health Summit is an initiative of GOPIO’s Health Council. The goal is to improve the health of people of Indian origin by raising awareness of current and emerging health issues affecting them, and by promoting preventive practices and sharing information to better manage chronic diseases, reduce complications and live healthy lifestyle in the Indian Diaspora. GOPIO Health Council recognized and awarded four leaders in their respective fields for their contribution as well as for promoting health awareness among the Indian Diaspora in the community. The awardees were Rahul Shukla, CEO, S.S. White Technologies & Shukla Medical – For achievement and contributions in manufacturing latest medical equipment; Hitesh Bhatt, Bhatt Foundation Inc. - Achievement and Contributions in Health Care Technology; Padma Shri H.R. Shah, Chairman & CEO, TV Asia - For Promoting Health Awareness among the Indian Diaspora and Sabinsa Corporation - For achievement and contributions in Health Supplements.
In his welcome remarks GOPIO International Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham provided history of GOPIO and urged everyone to become a life member and support GOPIO’s efforts to help Indian diaspora and appreciated everyone for their help for the Third Indian Diaspora Health Summit.
GOPIO Health Council Chair Dr. Tushar Patel mentioned that Access to care especially preventive health care is the biggest challenge in south Asians. Early detection and timely intervention for diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders and many types of cancer brings overall positive outcome and reduce long term complications and help in healthier living.
Host and TV Asia Chairman/CEO Padma Shree Dr. H. R. Shah provided his remarks by saying that health is an important aspect of life, breathing is more important than any other step in medicine. “If you are healthy you can do anything in your life and he appreciated GOPIO’s efforts in making Indian Diaspora healthier by holding this type of event,” said Shah. He further extended his support for future health summits.
Deputy Consul General Shatrughna Sinha mentioned that we have vulnerabilities in terms of our genetic makeup and our earliest problems were access to healthcare and insurance for healthcare but now the number of doctors in India are reducing, so we have created more medical schools to fix this. He briefed the gathering about various initiatives taken by the Government of India in the health sector. He also spoke about opportunities for investments in India's health sector.
Guest speaker Hitesh Bhatt, CEO and Founder of Bhatt Foundation, Inc. provided wonderful information on health care technologies in 21st century and explained how we can expand global healthcare without raising money - created the foundation. Robotic surgery with AT&T 5G, launched in Chicago - can download anything within seconds and the inner population of Chicago can now live 20 years longer because of this device and for human health - “the right diet combined with advances in technology in the medical field is mind-blowing”.
Rahul Shukla, CEO of SS White Technologies and Shukla Medical provided his keynote address and mentioned that we are much nicer to others than ourselves, this is primarily because we don’t like taking care of ourselves. Mr. Shukla explained that is the perfect example of the American Dream: a factory worker became the president of a legendary company and this can only happen in America. He further added that when things go wrong, I blame myself (Because only you can change your health, no one can fix that for you - blaming others can be satisfying but you can’t learn that way). There is a big difference in deciding to do something to change your health, and actually doing that. So, when you make a goal, you have to set a deadline, until then, it is just a fantasy.
The first session included the topics of metabolic syndrome, diabetes & other chronic diseases which are vulnerable in Asian Indians. The panel discussion was superbly moderated by Dr. Annah Kuriakose, Program Director of South Asian Diabetes Center at Saint Peter’s Hospital along with four panelists to include Dr. Nayan Kothari, Internal Medicine, Dr. Roopa Roy, Endocrinologist, Dr. Bhambhani, Clinical Pharmacist & Ms. Shah, dietitian and nutritionist. The panelist discussed various topics of diabetes, diet, risk factors for Indians and how to prevent and maintain a healthy life. Things that run together are called “syndrome” which is a Latin meaning. The biggest silent killer is Metabolic Syndrome which is a cluster of conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and low DHL and central obesity that can increase your risk of heart disease or a stroke. Body Mass Index of 25 and over is considered high, but for South Asians it’s 21 and over, that’s when we need to start worrying. We cannot change our genetic makeup, but we can change our diet and lifestyle and exercising is the key - start 30 mins every day (it takes 90 mins for insulin to kick in and exercise will increase general sense of well-being). Hemoglobin A1C is the most common test everyone needed to confirm the diagnosis and all at high blood glucose level of 126 and above should get it.
Diabetes has a correlation with many other chronic diseases and can double the risk of cancer. The South Asians are at risk for diabetes due to their phenotype. Indian food can be rich in carbohydrates if not properly cooked and eaten, and the only thing that help is a portion control as moderation is the key. The number of calories you eat, the same amount needs to burn out to maintain good and healthy weight. Diabetes and its complications are preventable if early screening and follow-up with a health care provider is started, so start early check-up, manage and get control of diabetes is the key.
Varsha Singh, Advanced Nurse Practitioner in her topic of clinical care coordination mentioned that doctors and patients do not communicate effectively. US healthcare cost is very high compared to other developed countries and there should be only one software in the nation so all hospitals can access them. No one gets out of life alive, so advance care planning is very important. Tele-medicine in 21st century and their benefits were discussed by Kunal Mehta. The afternoon session was allocated to mental health, oral health, physical therapy and alternative and complimentary medicine.
Dr. Prakash Amin, Psychiatrist, Dr. Ketan Vaidya, Geriatrician and lifestyle expert Jaya Jaya Myra provided excellent information on mental health which included depression, anxiety, dementia and all discussed how important mental health and not ignore mental health symptoms and seek help for better outcome. There is a need to educate South Asians on taboo and stigma about mental health as mental health is equally important as physical health and sometimes treated earlier can also help in other medical conditions. Uma Swaminathan provided excellent information on healing with herbs and discussed alternative and natural way to treat chronic diseases especially understanding cancer.
Dr. Anurag Pande, Vice President for Scientific Affairs at the Sabinsa Corporation provided excellent information and education on herbal medicine which has no side effects and can be used in daily consumption in cooking as well as in a supplemental form. Inflammation is the risk factor for many chronic diseases and if food can help reduce inflammation, many symptoms can be controlled. Dr. Asha Samant, dental professional provided excellent information on oral health and discussed why oral health is important and many health issues are linked due to poor oral health. Regular checkups and routine visits to dentist reduce many issues in South Asians especially in women.
Binny Talati, physical therapist discussed the importance of exercises and posture to avoid bone and joint disorders and mentioned that maintaining healthy weight helps in many joint disorders and unnecessary surgeries.
Nation’s leading licensed acupuncturist Charles Stuber provided excellent information on complimentary medicine and gave information on alternative way of treating pain and other organic symptoms without any side effects. Charles provide treatment to more than 150,000 patients every year and gave some success stories.
The health summit concluded with 45 minutes of yoga, meditation and breathing exercise session from Dr. Aparna Chawla of Art of Living Foundation which was very well received by all. The entire health summit was comprehensive and lasted more than seven hours with various experts from medical, dental, mental health and alternative care specialist for the second consecutive year.
