'60 pc increase in heart patients in India'

Kochi, Aug 28: Renowed cardiac surgeon, Dr Moosa Kunju, said India would have 60 per cent of the total heart patients in the world by 2020.Speaking at the inauguration function of the 'Cochin Heart Institute' at the 'Sunrise Hospital' here on Wednesday, AUg 27, Dr Kunju said genetic changes among the population of the sub-continent, unhealthy lifestyle and stress were the contributing factors for the increase of heart diseases in India. ''Heart disease, which presently is the fifth killer disease in the country, will be the number one killer in the next ten years and India would have almost 400 million people suffering from heart disease by that time,'' Dr Kunju noted.

He said around 50 to 70 per cent of patients, who had an heart attack, do not survive long and this situation had to be reversed through better medical infrastructure and care. In his address, Hospital Chairman, Dr Hafeez Rahman Padiyath said the institute, set up with an investment of Rs ten crore, would have a blend of world class expertise and modern facilities to render services to patients with all types of heart disease.

He said the main thrust would be on 'high risk and complex heart problems and treatment of heart diseases in children' apart from routine cardiac treatment.

UNI