Sutra is a Sanskrit word, which literally means
string or thread. But in the literary context, sutra is a concise i.e. using
few words and meaningful expression of a truth. All vedic knowledge is in the
form of Sutras.
To put it simply, a sutra is a
sentence or a statement, which has a complete meaning by itself. Every word in
a sutra is non deletable, every word is a chapter by itself.
For example, a sutra to create
awareness about child sexual abuse can be as follows: “Child sexual abuse,
evident or suspect, is a common, preventable, punishable, acute medicolegal
emergency.”
·
‘Child’ means any person below
the age of 18 years
·
‘Sexual’ means sexual
assault, sexual harassment and pornography as defined in the Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012
·
‘Abuse’ means
unwelcome/uninvited behavior - involvement of all senses, touch, remarks,
gestures, showing pornography, etc.
·
‘Evident’ means obvious or
clearly visible
·
‘Suspect’ means to consider to
be true
·
‘Common’ means both boys and
girls can be victims
·
‘Preventable’ means avoidable
·
‘Punishable’ means
imprisonment along with fine
·
‘Acute’ means of extreme
importance, urgent
·
‘Medicolegal’ means the police
has to be informed
·
‘Emergency’ means immediate
action is required; stressful
Public education is an
important part of health care and doctors have a duty to educate not only their
patients, but also the community about the significance of a healthy lifestyle.
Sutras can be effectively used
in health communication for dissemination of health messages as they are easy
to remember. Credible health sutras convey scientific information in a simple
language, making it easy for the patient as well as the public to understand
and adopt in their daily life.
This is how I teach.
I often use sutras and
formulas as a module to educate the general public about important health
issues. Some examples of these one-line health messages, which are
evidence-based and I have successfully used are as below:
·
Any food of plant in origin
does not contain cholesterol.
·
Any fat that is liquid at room
temperature is saturated fat.
·
Any fat that is solid at room
temperature is unsaturated fat.
·
One percent increases in
cholesterol increases the chances of heart attack by 2%.
·
One percent increase in good
HDL cholesterol decreases the chances of heart attack by 3%.
·
High BP, blood sugar and blood
cholesterol can remain silent for up to a decade.
·
Longer the waist line, shorter
the lifeline.
·
Even one whiff of cigarette,
active or passive, is not health-friendly.
Disclaimer: The views
expressed in this write up are entirely my own.
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