09-17-2007, 12:15 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Workplace stress? It can kill you </b>
Pioneer.com
Rajesh Mahapatra explains why
A sharp rise in lifestyle diseases such as heart problems and strokes, coupled with a lack of adequate preventive health care, threatens India's future growth prospects, a research study says. Experts warn that the country's hugely successful outsourcing industry could be the hardest hit.
Heart diseases, strokes and diabetes are estimated to have wiped $ 9 billion off India's national income in 2005, but the losses could total a staggering $ 200 billion over the next 10 years if corrective action is not taken quickly, according to a study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, a New Delhi-based research group.
It said India's rapid economic expansion has boosted corporate profits and employee incomes, but has also sparked a surge in workplace stress and lifestyle diseases that few Indian companies have addressed. Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said his biggest concern was the country's information technology industry that has grown rapidly, riding on the outsourcing boom.
Long working hours, night shifts and a sedentary lifestyle make people employed at information technology companies prone to heart disease and diabetes, the report said. There have also been growing reports of mental depression and family discord in the industry.
Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second-largest software exporter, has a 24-hour hot line for employees suffering from depression to access psychiatrists. "We must have prevented at least 30 deaths from suicide because of this hot line," said Mr Richard Lobo, a director at the Bangalore-based company.
"In Bangalore, psychiatrists say their Saturdays are reserved for marriage counselling for the IT sector," Mr Lobo said. Infosys introduced a work-life balance plan after a 24-year-old employee suffered a heart attack several years ago, Mr Lobo said. But not many companies in the outsourcing industry conduct regular health checks or provide similar support to their employees.
The ICRIER study, <b>which surveyed 81 companies, said they lose approximately 14 per cent of their annual working days due to employee sickness. Less than a third of them provide their staff with preventive health care measures.</b>
Reducing just one health risk increases an employee's on-the-job productivity by nine per cent and cuts absenteeism by two per cent, the study said.
<b>Dr Ravi Kasliwal, a cardiologist at New Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said heart disease is projected to account for 35 per cent of deaths among India's working age population between 2000 and 2030</b>, Dr Kasliwal said, citing data from the WHO. That compares to about 12 per cent in the US, 22 per cent in China and 25 per cent in Russia.
The ICRIER study said corporate initiatives are crucial because of low levels of public health spending and poor insurance coverage. India's per capita health spending of $ 7 is one of the lowest in the world and is a fraction of what the United States spends -- $ 2,548, according to a 2006 WHO report.
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Pioneer.com
Rajesh Mahapatra explains why
A sharp rise in lifestyle diseases such as heart problems and strokes, coupled with a lack of adequate preventive health care, threatens India's future growth prospects, a research study says. Experts warn that the country's hugely successful outsourcing industry could be the hardest hit.
Heart diseases, strokes and diabetes are estimated to have wiped $ 9 billion off India's national income in 2005, but the losses could total a staggering $ 200 billion over the next 10 years if corrective action is not taken quickly, according to a study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, a New Delhi-based research group.
It said India's rapid economic expansion has boosted corporate profits and employee incomes, but has also sparked a surge in workplace stress and lifestyle diseases that few Indian companies have addressed. Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said his biggest concern was the country's information technology industry that has grown rapidly, riding on the outsourcing boom.
Long working hours, night shifts and a sedentary lifestyle make people employed at information technology companies prone to heart disease and diabetes, the report said. There have also been growing reports of mental depression and family discord in the industry.
Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second-largest software exporter, has a 24-hour hot line for employees suffering from depression to access psychiatrists. "We must have prevented at least 30 deaths from suicide because of this hot line," said Mr Richard Lobo, a director at the Bangalore-based company.
"In Bangalore, psychiatrists say their Saturdays are reserved for marriage counselling for the IT sector," Mr Lobo said. Infosys introduced a work-life balance plan after a 24-year-old employee suffered a heart attack several years ago, Mr Lobo said. But not many companies in the outsourcing industry conduct regular health checks or provide similar support to their employees.
The ICRIER study, <b>which surveyed 81 companies, said they lose approximately 14 per cent of their annual working days due to employee sickness. Less than a third of them provide their staff with preventive health care measures.</b>
Reducing just one health risk increases an employee's on-the-job productivity by nine per cent and cuts absenteeism by two per cent, the study said.
<b>Dr Ravi Kasliwal, a cardiologist at New Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said heart disease is projected to account for 35 per cent of deaths among India's working age population between 2000 and 2030</b>, Dr Kasliwal said, citing data from the WHO. That compares to about 12 per cent in the US, 22 per cent in China and 25 per cent in Russia.
The ICRIER study said corporate initiatives are crucial because of low levels of public health spending and poor insurance coverage. India's per capita health spending of $ 7 is one of the lowest in the world and is a fraction of what the United States spends -- $ 2,548, according to a 2006 WHO report.
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