Cardiovascular disease in rural areas-Pandora box: Dr Sushil

Medical camp tribute to Devender Rana

STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: With the aim of disseminating awareness regarding cardiovascular disease particularly in rural areas Head Department of Cardiology GMCH Jammu, Dr Sushil Sharma held a day long Cardiac Awareness cum health Checkup camp at Panchayat Ghar Lower Jandial Block Mathwar, Jammu for the society as a mark of tribute and respect to visionary late Devender Singh Rana who will continue to inspire upcoming generations to work for upliftment and betterment of society in their respective sectors.
Devender Singh Rana who always wanted us to organize medical camps for cardiovascular screening in each nook and corner particularly in Nagrota area of Jammu and wished for Medical camp for Lower Jandial a week prior to his demise.

HoD Cardiology GMCH Jammu, Dr Sushil Sharma and his team examining patients.

While interacting with the People Dr Sushil Stated that Cardiovascular diseases are leading cause of mortality among adults in India, and their risk factors (tobacco, hypertension, diabetes, overweight, and obesity) are common. Most risk-factor surveys have focused on young and middle aged adults.
“We measured the prevalence of risk factors for CVD among elderly (age 60 years or more) in rural India. It is now well known that conventional risk factors (smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, dyslipidemia, unhealthy diet, and reduced physical activity) together account for more than 95% of population-attributable risk for CVD, and novel risk factors have only a small contribution to make. These risk factors, attributed to a set of life-style changes are prevalent both in urban and rural India” Dr Sushil said.
He elaborated that some aspects of the CVD epidemic in India are particular causes of concern, including its accelerated buildup, the early age of disease onset in the population, and the high case fatality rate.
“In India, the epidemiological transition from predominantly infectious disease conditions to non-communicable diseases has occurred over a rather brief period of time. Despite wide heterogeneity in the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors across different regions, CVD has emerged as the leading cause of death in all parts of India, including poorer states and rural areas. The progression of the epidemic is characterized by the reversal of socioeconomic gradients; tobacco use and low fruit and vegetable intake have become more prevalent among those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds frequently do not receive optimal therapy, leading to poorer outcomes. An additional cause of concern in Indians and South Asians is that they tend to have more severe manifestations of CVD and higher fatality rates. Despite having a lower conventional CVD risk factor burden, the incidence of major cardiovascular events and mortality among individuals of low-income countries (96% from South Asia, of whom 83% were from India) was higher than in middle- and high-income countries. The case fatality rates for cardiovascular events in low-income countries, represented largely by India, was 17%; this is much higher than in higher-income countries, which had a case fatality rate of 6.5%,” Dr Sushil said.
He added that countering the cardiovascular epidemic requires the development of strategies such as the formulation and effective implementation of evidence-based policy, reinforcement of health systems, and emphasis on prevention, early detection, and treatment with the use of both conventional and innovative techniques.
Further he elaborated that In India, under diagnosis and underreporting of CVD are more frequent among the poor. Economically underprivileged patients with CVD are less likely to receive evidence-based treatments, because medical treatment often involves large out-of-pocket payments and with the introduction of Ayushman healthcare scheme this has been overcomed and everyone irrespective of socioeconomic strata is able to achieve equitable and affordable healthcare, He Said
Prominent members of the area Anjali Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Ravinder Singh, Sohan Singh, Bobby Singh, Bhagwan Dass Sharma, Jagdeep Singh, Ankush Sharma and Romy Khajuria appreciated the efforts of Dr Sushil and his team for conducting cardiac awareness cum health checkup camp in their area and shows their heartfelt gratitude.
Others who were part of this camp includes Dr Venkatesh Yellupu and Dr Dhaneshwer Kapoor.
Paramedics and volunteers includes Ranjeet Singh , Amish Jamwal, Rohit Nayyar, Paramveer Singh, Rajinder Singh, Vikas Kumar, Gurpreet Singh, Vishal Padha and Nirvair Singh Bali.

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