Addressing the 100th IMA NATCON, Home Minister Amit Shah detailed India’s shift to a preventative health ecosystem, crediting Swachh Bharat, Fit India, and a 40% rise in yoga practitioners for moving healthcare beyond traditional medicine.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the 100th All India Medical Conference (IMA NATCON 2025) on December 28, 2025, detailing the government’s shift toward a preventative health ecosystem. The Home Minister emphasised that flagship initiatives such as the Swachh Bharat Mission and Fit India have extended healthcare beyond hospital walls into the daily lives of citizens through sanitation and lifestyle changes.
Building a Preventative Health Ecosystem
Speaking in Ahmedabad, the Home Minister explained how the government moved beyond traditional medicine to build a “preventative health ecosystem.” Swachh Bharat Mission as the primary catalyst for this transformation, stating that the drive to build toilets in every home has been as vital to national health as any medical breakthrough. He noted that the integration of yoga and sports into the educational and social fabric has resulted in a staggering 40% increase in yoga practitioners since 2015, marking a significant win for grassroots wellness.
Amit Shah explained that, under the Prime Minister’s leadership, India has adopted a holistic approach to healthcare. This approach, he noted, began not in hospitals, but in the homes and streets of India through the Swachh Bharat Mission. “We developed a health ecosystem with a holistic view. First, we launched the Swachh Bharat Mission and initiated a campaign to build toilets in every home. Everyone understands how closely this is linked to health… This has been instrumental in transforming India’s health landscape. Today, I can confidently say that through Yoga Day and grassroots promotion, we have increased the number of people practising yoga by at least 40% compared to before 2015,” said Amit Shah
Swachh Bharat: A Public Health Campaign
The Home Minister remarked that while many initially viewed the cleanliness drive as a purely social initiative, it was fundamentally a public health campaign. By providing toilets to 12 crore households, the mission successfully addressed the root causes of many preventable diseases. Shah noted that this hygiene infrastructure has significantly reduced the burden on the country’s healthcare system, particularly for women and children.
Integrating Wellness and Sports
Further expanding on this holistic vision, the Home Minister linked sanitation success to the Fit India and Khelo India campaigns. He emphasised that by promoting yoga at the grassroots level, the government has seen a 40% increase in practitioners compared to the pre-2015 era. These efforts, combined with sports initiatives for primary school children, aim to make wellness a “natural part” of every Indian’s life, rather than a reactive necessity. (ANI)
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