The Hindu Business Line : ‘Youth falling prey to cardio vascular disease’

Hyderabad, March 22 It is not just the Government that needs to take action to prevent cardio vascular diseases (CVDs). A multi-dimensional approach is required as the magnitude of the problem is huge, Dr Ramesh Babu, Managing Director, Medwin Heart Foundation, said here.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a seminar, he said that it is necessary to bring together NGOs, corporates and others to tackle the problem. “Also, it is wrong to presume that CVDs occur mostly in the Western and richer countries. On the other hand, 80 per cent of the occurrence is seen in developing, lower and middle-income countries,” he added.

In India, around four per cent of the rural population is affected and in the urban areas, the proportion goes up to as high as 10 per cent. “Until now, Government focus has been only on tackling various maternal problems, infections, malnutrition, HIV, etc; but focus should also be given to preventing CVDs, diabetes and hypertension,” he said.

Danger signals

According to estimates, around 68 million people will be affected by CVD-related problems by 2016, 57 million would have diabetes, and around 215 million people would have problems related to hypertension by 2025.

According to Dr Prabhakaran, Executive Director, Center for Chronic Disease Control, another issue relating to CVDs is that very young people are being affected by it in India. “The reasons are mainly due to smoking, chewing tobacco, improper diet, absence of physical activity and increased body weight,” he said.

Dr Prabhakaran added that the response so far, and coordination among the various stake holders has not been very strong. Dr Babu said that the Medwin Heart Foundation has launched a two-day Prevent India 2009 progamme, a national-level initiative that aims to highlight the dangers of coronary artery disease.

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