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'Every Beat Counts' Report on India's Cardiac Crisis

by Dr. Preethi Balasubramanian on Sep 30 2024 3:47 PM
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BM Birla Heart Hospital's Every Beat Counts report highlights India's growing cardiovascular disease crisis and calls for urgent national action to improve cardiac care.

`Every Beat Counts` Report on India`s Cardiac Crisis
One of the reputed hospital groups of the CK Birla Hospitals, the BM Birla Heart Hospital has recently released a first of its kind report on the heart health of India known as Every Beat Counts . As a first of its kind of research, the report makes an attempt to unfold the increasing cardiovascular health problem and includes essential recommendations to combat the cardiovascular disease augmentation in India(1 Trusted Source
Cardiovascular Disease

Go to source
).

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Cardiovascular Diseases on the Rise in India

Cardiovascular diseases have been predicted to be on the rise in India. Specifically, using the data, the report notes that coronary heart disease has tripled in India within the last thirty years. Every Beat Counts has it that 20% of all heart attack deaths worldwide are now in India; about 90 million Indians live with cardiovascular diseases. Literally the mortality rate from CVD is 272 per 100000 populations, thus more than the international average of 235.


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Urban-Rural Disparities in Heart Health

The difference in mortality rates is another important finding of the report given the fact that the mortality rate in India is higher in rural areas than urban ones. Mortality rate is higher in the urban area 450 per 100,000 than rural areas 200 per 100,000. Most Indians have the “normal” weight but they are fat, the so-called thin-fat people who are at greater risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Coronary diseases kill 24.5 percent of Indians; West Bengal and Punjab among states where more than 35 percent of deaths are caused by heart disease. Such disturbing figures highlighted the hourly rising cardiac health scourge, which argues for focused and urgent national solutions.


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Cardiac Care Infrastructure and Workforce Shortages

A lack of both facilities and human resources in the field of cardiology took its toll on the healthcare of the Indian population. There is one cardiologist for every 250000 population while the United States has one for every 7300 populations. This problem is aggravated by the fact that there are few trained pediatric cardiologists, 35 fellows per year, and the surgical mortality rate of congenital heart disease in children is between 8% and 13% compared with less than 5% of countries with developed medical systems.

The report also highlights the growth in cardiovascular disease incidence in youth such that children are affected. Newborn heart diseases account for around 10% of infant deaths in India, which underlines the necessity to develop better expert care for kids’ coronary heart diseases.

According to Vipul Jain, CEO of CK Birla Hospitals, India has a fairly significant obstacle in front of it in the direction of improved cardiac health; thus, there is a need for the collective effort to combat the possible decline of cardiac health of people in India. In this first Every Beat Counts report, various cases illustrate the necessity for a national plan to address such a problem. “We will continue our annual surveys with the goal of increasing awareness of the state of the country’s cardiac health environment and identifying areas for improvement,” Jain added.


Roadmap for India’s Cardiac Health

Every Beat Counts prescribes an action plan for addressing cardiovascular disease in India, based on the principles of infrastructure development, access to specialized care and greater public awareness. CK Birla Hospitals and B M Birla Heart Hospital will have to carry out annual indices so as to manage how many more Indians are in danger of a cardiac sickness and to steer policies so as to create a higher future for all Indians.

The Every Beat Counts report has urged the participation of healthcare professionals and policymakers and the general populace of India in fighting the prominent cardiac disease crisis in the country. By comprehensive awareness and more investment in the betterment and availability of such health facilities and specialists, much can be done for a stronger heart-health America.

Reference:
  1. Cardiovascular Disease - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535419/)


Source-Medindia


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