The campaign, a joint effort of AAPI, WGF, GAPIO, VFW, and MOVE!, aims to provide help in 100 VA facilities throughout the United States.
American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) started the Veterans Obesity Awareness Campaign in New York on Thursday, November 2. The ceremony was held at the Indian Consulate in New York.
The campaign was started considering that at least three in every four veterans receiving care at the VA facilities are grappling with weight-related issues. The epidemic has had an adverse impact on morbidity, mortality, and healthcare expenditures.
“The goal of the campaign is to support in one hundred VA facilities throughout the continental United States,” said Dr. Gautam Samadder, president of AAPI. He said the campaign is a joint endeavor of AAPI with the organization including WHEELS Global Foundation (WGF), Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO) and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and MOVE!.
According to the media statement, AAPI has formed an ad-hoc committee to oversee the campaign functions and its members consist of Dr. Samadder, President of AAPI, Dr. Vikas Kuarna, Chair; Dr. Uma Koduri and Dr. Satheesh Kathula, Co-Chairs.
Deputy Consul General of India in New York Paramita Tripathi lighted the traditional lamp to inaugurate the event. “We are proud to host AAPI as it launches this significant event for Veterans,” she said. “This noble initiative is a great way of giving back to their adopted land.”
During his address at the event, Samadder said AAPI has been a great influence in the field of medicine in the US. Underscoring the strength of Indian physicians in the US, Samadder said one in every seven doctors is of Indian heritage.
“Coming from a nation that has given much to the world, today physicians of Indian origin have become a powerful influence in medicine across the world. Nowhere is their authority more keenly felt than in the United States, where Indians make up the largest non-Caucasian segment of the American medical community,” Samadder said. “The overrepresentation of Indians in the field of medicine is striking – in practical terms, one out of seven doctors in the United States is of Indian Heritage. We provide medical care to over 40 million of US population, caring for one in every seven patients in the nation. There are 150 AAPI Chapters across the nation and it has an ever growing membership of Indian American Physicians,” he reported.
Dr. Vikas Khurana, in his address, said, “The collaborative launch of the Veteran Obesity Awareness Campaign (VOAC) is a way of seeking to acknowledge and to create awareness about obesity among veterans as a national problem.
Dr. Uma Koduri provided the audience with a brief description of her efforts in Tulsi, Oklahoma, in successfully launching Childhood Obesity awareness campaign. The campaign that was later on adopted by AAPI at the national level has become a national movement with the larger AAPI taking it across the nation.
About $200 billion a year is spent in the US to address the problem of obesity, said Dr. Satish Kathula at the event. “This new initiative by AAPI and its partners is a way to educate AAPI members of the problems and create awareness among them and enable them to work towards preventing obesity among veterans and the larger population,” he added.
Coordinator of the event, Dr. Raj Bhayani, in his introductory remarks, called obesity a form of “terror” from within us. “If we do not run, obesity will run behind us,” he said.
Rajat Gupta, an Indian American businessman and philanthropist, in his address, said, “With a vision to use technology to enable philanthropy, WHEELS Global Foundation (WGF) is a non-profit organization, that is a pioneer in applying technology to provide solutions to issues related with water, health, education, energy, livelihood, and sustainability.” Founded by the alumni of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), the foundation partners with non-profits based in the US and India to raise awareness and implement solutions for issues related to their six focus areas.
Dr. Sudhir Parikh, representing Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), which is partnering with AAPI, in this initiative, said, GAPIO is a nonprofit organization and its vision is “Improving Health Worldwide.” While lauding AAPI’s efforts, Parikh offered wholehearted support to AAPI in achieving the goals of the campaign.
MOVE! Weight Management Program, is another program, supported by VA’s National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (NCP), that is part of this larger initiative by AAPI to spread awareness about obesity among Veterans.
The US’s oldest major veterans’ organization, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), is another partner with AAPI to work towards creating awareness of this major issue.
AAPI is an umbrella organization representing dozens of local chapters, specialty societies and alumni organizations. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, AAPI represents the interests of over nearly 100,000 physicians, medical students and residents of Indian heritage in the United States. It is the largest ethnic medical organization in the nation.