A healthy lifestyle and prevention of illnesses is the best way to reduce state and individual expenses on health care, Vice President Faisal Naseem has said.

Vice President Naseem said this at an event on Monday to inaugurate the state’s awareness program on the use of harmful substances and products; which include tobacco, energy drinks, soft drinks, and areca nuts and betel leaves.

Naseem said while developing the health sector has been a priority for every government, his administration has dedicated an unprecedented amount to raising awareness on harmful products, discouraging their use, and assisting treatment of dependencies on them.

While dedicating a budget to raising awareness of harmful substances and products is one of the new government’s pledges for its first 100 days in office, Naseem said that maintaining public health is not a responsibility the falls solely on medical professionals, but on individuals as well.

“No matter how many times I say this, how many such events are held, if we do not take substantial actions, we as a nation, in our households, offices, clubs, associations, if all of us do not work towards this, I will have to be saying the same thing, even after five years”, Naseem said.

According to the World Health Organization, which commended Maldives for taking action to curb tobacco use, the Maldives has a high number of smokers per capital. The organization’s 2018 fact sheet reveals that there are 76,100 smokers in the country, which has a total population of just 435,000.