It has lately been experienced that so far we have been concentrating on curative measures in order to tackle health related problems.
Governments have also been trying to increase the number of hospital and dispensaries, number of beds and doctors in hospitals and adequate arrangements for nurses and medicines and drugs.
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The idea relating to preventive and protective services to combat diseases has never been taken so seriously.
Preventive Services are meant for the measures taken to prevent the disease and protective services implies the administration of protective power in the human body so that the same may be able to fight the disease.
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It has been rightly said “It is better to prevent than to treat.” This method is more proper instead of calling for disease and then treating the same.
Preventive measures comprises of ensuring adequate supply of pure water, nutrition, fresh air, supplementary nutritional food supply, pollution free environment etc.
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If we ensure supply of pure water to all, the disease which are impure water-born shall be sufficiently minimised. This principle applies to all other measures. Therefore protective measures are most important.
Similarly by preventing food-adulteration and maintenance of proper status of most of the medicines can be helpful in preventing most of the diseases. Prevention of diseases is also helpful in bringing down the infant mortality rate. Following are the main protective measures:
(a) Adequate supply of potable and domestically useable water.
(b) Pure and nutritional food that can help maintain strength and disease preventive power in body.
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(c) Control on air-pollution to provide fresh air for all at all cost.
(d) Prevention of noise pollution to prevent deafness and high blood- pressure.
(e) Proper management of pollution free environment. Emphasis should be laid on suitable drainage of used water and garbage.
(f) Maternal and child health care and family planning.
(g) Educating the people about health problems to generate awareness in them about health related problems and measures to prevent them.
(h) Encouraging people’s participation in health related programmes, so that they may take care of themselves as well as cooperate with others in this earnest task.
(i) Periodic health check-up.