India: The Heart Disease Capital of the World??

According to “The Lancet”, a leading medical journal, India will soon have 60% of world’s total no of heart patients. The data is based on a study by Dr Xavier of St John’s Medical college, Bangalore and Dr Saleem Yusuf, Hamilton Hospital, Ontario, Canada. While this is good news for Cardiologists in India, its bad news for the Indian populace at large. India is facing the twin burden of Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases as the nation undergoes a demographic transition from an underdeveloped economy to a Third World Superpower. The India growth story, so well publicized by the media, seems to be limited to the top income brackets of the society. In fact there is more unequal redistribution of wealth, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer!! It is high time health authorities realize the importance of Prevention of Heart Disease and allocate enough funds and health personnel for the same on lines of the anti-AIDS programme, which has yielded encouraging results. What the country needs is more Heart Disease Prevention centres and not more Cath labs.

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