Health city for affordable heart care in AP capital

Hyderabad, Nov 8 (UNI) Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH) Healthcare Group and Hyderabad-based private educational institution chain, Malla Reddy, today announced to established 'Narayana Hrudayalaya Malla Reddy Health City' here aimed at providing ''affordable but quality'' heart treatment to poor, with an initial investment of Rs 200 crore.

Within four months, Phase I of the health city will start with 500-bed super specialty heart hospital where 60 per cent of adult and 40 per cent paediatric cardiac surgeries will be done.

It will be followed by 1000-bed cancer hospital. The hospital Campus will cover an area of 40 acre land and have 5,000 beds in three years.

''The entire infrastructure is created to make high tech healthcare affordable to the common man. Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH) Foundation will subsidise the treatment of poor heart patients through its charitable wing,'' NH Chairman and Eminent Cardiovascular Surgeon, Dr Devi Shetty said at a press meet here today.

It will perform heart operation at less than half the cost at the corporate hospitals.

''We will try to bring it down when the volume goes up,''he added.

Indians were genetically three times more vulnerable to heart diseases than Europeans.

In India, 25 lakh heart surgeries are needed to be performed annually but only 90,000 surgeries approximately, are conducted.

Heart Surgery in India today is not affordable by the common man, he said.

''To address this problem, Narayana Hrudayalaya Group of Hospitals launched a chain of hospitals under the banner of health cities,''he said.

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