STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Following the noble dictum that awareness is the first step towards change, HoD Cardiology Government Medical College and Super Specialty Hospital (GMC and SSH) Dr. Sushil Sharma on Sunday reached out to the natives of village Garhi, Block Marh as a part of his widespread campaign to aware the society about the prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). Accompanied by the team of young doctors, paramedics and volunteers Dr Sushil Sharma examined people of the village for the prevalence of cardiac diseases and other health ailments .More than 250 patients were screened, evaluated, diagnosed and free medicines were given as per the requirements.
During his interaction with the natives of the village Dr. Sushil said that smoking is a major cause of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and causes one of every three deaths from CVD as the recent surveys indicates. Even people who smoke fewer than five cigarettes a day may show signs of early CVD. The risk of CVD increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and when smoking continues for many years. While examining patients he also highlighted another aspect of this problem. He elaborated that the rural residency has long been associated with higher rates of smoking. Moreover, the adolescent age of onset of smoking is earlier in rural regions as compared with their urban counterparts. Since rural communities make up near about 70 per cent of the population in Jammu and Kashmir it is a matter of serious concern especially for people residing in the rural areas of the State, he emphasised.
He also stressed that smokers who quit smoking early there are chances that within a year, the risk of heart attack drops dramatically, and even people who have already had a heart attack can cut their risk of having another if they quit smoking. Within five years of quitting, smokers lower their risk of heart attack to about that of a person who has never smoked. He also made a fervent appeal to the parents and other communities member to discourage the culture of tobacco use both in chewing and smoking form as part of life in their communities, and to expect that their children will have healthy, tobacco-free live.
Residents of the area Bodh Raj, Randhir Singh, Jagdish Raj, Sanjeev kumar, Sukhvinder Raj commended the efforts of Dr Sushil and his team for conducting such awareness cum medical camp in their rural and far flung areas and expressed their heartfelt gratitude.
Others who were part of this endeavour include Dr Dhaneshwar Kapoor, Dr. Chakshu Mahajan and Dr Anitipal Singh. Paramedics and volunteers included Kashmiri Lal, Kamal Kishore, Raghav Rajput, Rajkumar, Aman, Vikas kumar and Rajeev Vohra.
