JEDDAH, 19 June 2006 — Unless the trend is halted, three out of every five heart patients around the world would be from India by the year 2020, a leading heart specialist from Kerala has warned.
Quoting latest studies, Dr. Moosa Kunhi, chief consultant cardiac surgeon at Lisie Heart Institute in the south Indian state, said the situation is already so bad that cardiac diseases are threatening to become the No. 1 killer in India.
Speaking to Arab News, Moosa said India is estimated to have 400 million heart patients in 15 years. “By that time, 60 percent of all heart patients in the world will be from India,” he warned.
“One out of every 100 children born in India are growing with heart problems and only two percent of them receive proper treatment,” he said, adding that babies born with heart conditions should be operated on within 10 days of birth.
Moosa believes that lack of awareness will probably be the main reason for the spread of the disease. “Awareness is very important as it removes ignorance and unnecessary fear, and generates self-confidence among patients,” said Moosa, who was in the Kingdom recently to perform Umrah.
He said he has taken up the fight against heart diseases through his mission as a cardiac surgeon and as an activist working to enhance public awareness about such diseases and the remedies that are available.
Dr. Moosa said health awareness programs should target children in order to bring up a healthy and productive young generation. “There is no use of taking precautions in the end when we have a heart attack. We should start from childhood. A good portion of the syllabus should be on health because it is essential for increasing productivity of a nation,” he said.
“We should explain to children the danger of smoking and overeating in a clear and convincing manner through textbooks and we should not give high calorie food to children as the foundation of heart blocks are laid as early as five years,” he explained.
Moosa has conducted more than 10,000 open-heart surgeries with a success rate of 99.3 percent. His highest specialization is in open-heart surgery in children and newborn babies who are born with heart defects like the blue baby syndrome.
