World Liver Day: PM pitches for ‘mindful eating and healthier living’

Amid a rising trend in liver and lifestyle diseases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pitched for “mindful eating and healthier living” to make a healthier India.

Mr Modi posted on X: “Commendable effort to mark World Liver Day with a call for mindful eating and healthier living. Small steps like reducing oil intake can make a big difference. Together, let’s build a fitter, healthier India by raising awareness about obesity.”

The Prime Minister was replying to Union health minister JP Nadda’s post urging people to pledge to reduce their edible oil intake by at least 10 per cent and embrace a healthier lifestyle, a reiteration of Mr Modi’s similar calls to arrest obesity.

The World Liver Day observed every year on April 19 to raise awareness about liver health and diseases. The theme for 2025 is “Food is Medicine”.

To mark the day, Union home minister Amit Shah spoke at the acclaimed Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences and exhorted the youth to follow a regimen of two hours of physical exercise and six hours of sleep to ensure good health.

Highlighting a turnaround in his health and capacity to work by ensuring the right amount of sleep, focussing on his food and water intake and regular exercise in the last few years, Mr Shah said: “I have achieved a very big change since May 2019 till now. By having the right amount of sleep, pure water, food and exercise, I have achieved much in life. In the last 4.5 years I have become free from all allopathic medicines.”

The minister inaugurated an Integrated Liver Rehabilitation Centre at ILBS and also visited a cartoon gallery organised around the theme of liver health at the institute.

“I enjoy cartoons, including those based on me,” Mr Shah said in a lighter vein and lauded ILBS director Dr S Sareen for the gallery and other initiatives of the institute in creating awareness on liver health.

Speaking on the occasion, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday said Delhi has the responsibility of providing healthcare not only to its residents but also to people from across the country who come here for treatment and underscored to improve healthcare infrastructure. The chief minister stressed the need for collective efforts towards improving healthcare and praised central schemes like the Ayushman Bharat Yojana which is now available for people in Delhi.

Prof. S.K. Sarin, Director of ILBS, reinforced the scientific case for this movement, stating, “Liver health is not separate from public health — it is at its core. Fatty liver precedes diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.” He emphasized the need for primordial and primary prevention through lifestyle education, coupled with advanced treatment for those already affected.

Delhi Health Minister Pankaj Singh and other senior officials also attended the World Liver Day event.