Fight diseases with hygiene: Nobel laureate

Chennai: Making a strong case for improving hygiene and sa­nitation in the count­ry,  Noble laureate Ven­k­a­traman Ramakris­h­nan pointed out on Thurs­d­ay that the West had be­en able to get rid of ma­ny diseases and infecti­o­ns by making hygiene a priority in every day life.

Delivering a lecture in the city on ‘anti-body and ribosome,’ the In­di­an born British-Ameri­can scientist, who was awarded a Noble prize in Chemistry for unravelling the structure of ri­b­o­­some, which is primarily responsible for syn­th­esis of protein,  said use of antibiotics was not en­­ough to fight disease and India must lea­rn fr­om the West in battling it more effectively.

Regretting that the government’s expenditure on health was the third lo­­west in the world after Haiti and Sierra Leone, he called for more investment in sanitation and hygiene in the country. “Europe has the best sa­nitation,” he noted, whi­le underlining that a disease prevention mechanism and surveillance was extremely crucial to keep the people of India healthy.

The molecular biologist warned that the  habit of  taking anti­biotics,  common among ma­­ny people in  the co­u­n­­try, could lead to inc­r­eased drug resistant bacteria and viruses in the long run. “This attitude of self- medication is not healthy,” he stressed.  

“Often people do not complete the full course of their medication th­i­n­k­ing they have been cu­red , but the residual bacteria  in the body develops resistance and be­c­-o­mes stronger this way,” he explained.

As  for cr­y­s­tallography , a field in which he has won the Noble, the scientist said, “There is  a lot of scope for structural biological re­search. There are still unanswered questions on how some bacteria are able to evade vacci­nes and how they attack the hosts.”