India
The government would bring out new health guidelines for the IT industry in view of the high incidence of health problems among young professionals in this field.
Updated : Nov 19, 2013, 11:17 PM IST
NEW DELHI: The government would bring out new health guidelines for the Information Technology industry in view of the high incidence of heart attacks, diabetes, obesity, blood pressure and other health problems among young professionals in this field, Union Health Minister Anbumoni Ramadoss said on Friday.
Ramdoss said his ministry would set up a meeting the Union Communication Minister A Raja to discuss the formulation of comprehensive guidelines to prevent lifestyle diseases among IT professionals.
“These will not be separate health policy for BPOs, but healthcare guidelines for IT industry as a whole as it was the flagship industry for the country,” Ramadoss said.
He said the government decided to bring these guidelines as it has come to light that youngsters in the age group of 20 to 25 years working in BPOs and IT sector due to night and shift duty were suffering from heart attacks, hypertension, obesity and other diseases. “There’s a need to create awareness among them as well as the industry owners as these problems were solvable,” he said.
Admitting that occupational hazards were associated with many jobs and professions, Ramadoss said they needed to be solved. Ramadoss also called for creating awareness against use of junk food and tobacco by youngsters. He said tobacco use was responsible for 40 per cent of health diseases in India, and more vigorous steps were needed to check its use.
The minister also asked the Indian Council of Medical Research, which was on Friday converted into the Department of Health Research, to conduct a study on the long term negative impact of mobile phone use by youngsters.