Governments should invest in disease prevention, rather than treatment, says AMA president

Investing in prevention of a disease, instead of spending on its treatments, should be the order of the day, and it is high time that governments realise this, said American Medical Association president Bobby Mukkamala.

Dr. Mukkamala, head and neck surgeon, who was elected president of the American Medical Association in June, 2025, and became the first person of Indian heritage to be holding the position, has his roots in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. While his father, Mukkamala Apparao, is from Buddhavaram, his mother, Mukkamala Sumathi is from Thotlavalluru. Both of them are doctors, who moved to the U.S. after completing their MBBS in India.

In a telephonic conversation with The Hindu on Tuesday (January 20, 2026), Dr. Mukkumala—who, as part of the AMA tour of India, visited Vijayawada last week and is scheduled to travel to Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Agra—said, “Every country has two options: either invest in disease prevention or in its treatment. We tend to choose the latter. However, it is important to understand that investing in disease prevention will not only save many lives but is also more economical.”

Focussing on a disease prevention would entail strengthening of the health infrastructure in a country, increasing the number of physicians and taking up awareness campaigns, Dr. Mukkamala said.

“More importantly, there needs to be a cultural change. We need to have continuous conversations about how to prevent cancer or diabetes or a stroke to save lives,” he said.

Pointing out that the life expectancy in the U.S. has been stagnant for a while due to multiple factors, Dr. Mukkamala hoped that India would not go down the wrong path by assuming that the curve of life expectancy would always grow. “We have to actively work to make it happen, and one of the things we can do is improving access to healthcare.”

Recently, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) pointed out in its Annual Ground Water Quality Report-2025 that there is a high incidence of nitrate, iron, fluoride, lead, and other metals in groundwater in the State.

On being asked about the public health impact of heavy metal contamination in drinking water in A.P., Dr. Mukkamala said that it is a serious problem and needs to be addressed immediately. There will not be immediate visible symptoms of drinking water contaminated with metals. But, he cautioned that the effects appear over a long time, and may affect children’s ability to learn.

Reiterating his point, Dr. Mukkamala said, “It is always better to focus on prevention of a disease than focussing our energy and time on its treatment. After all, the healthier a country is the more productive its people are.”