BY NISHA NAMBIAR
nishan@sakalherald.com
PUNE: City’s Hindustan Antibiotics and B J Medical College were part of a World Health Organisation (WHO) sponsored study carried out All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the news is grim. The study, which has found a place in the latest edition of the medical bulletin of the WHO, states that by 2020, 2.6 million Indians will die of coronary heart disease, which will account for 54 percent of all the cardiovascular deaths. Nearly 50 percent of these deaths are expected to occur in the relatively young age group of 30 and 69 years.
The study assessed the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) all over India among industrial population in 10 centres. It was directed by AIIMS’ Dr K S Reddy.
The Pune team was led by Dr Rajani Amin, a retired professor of B J Medical College. The team also included Dr Dilip Kadam.
The study was conducted between 2000 and 2003 and the report was submitted last year to Dr Reddy.
This study has shown very high levels of CVD factors among a relatively younger population.
Speaking to the Herald, Dr Amin said that this was the first project in which CVD risk factors in India were studied. It also dwelled on a model for replication of prevention strategies in India and other developed countries.
“The dissemination of these findings may encourage other companies to set up surveillance activities, especially in developed countries where the organisational work force comprises a substantial number of individuals. Continous surveillance would provide us with an opportunity to develop evidence based cost effective CVD prevention, detection and management strategies,” AIIMS professor Dr D Prabhakaran said.
The ten centres included Dibrugarh, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Pune and Thiruvanthpuram.
Dr Amin said that in Pune 2,308 people from Hindustan Antiobiotics factory were included in the survey.
Besides checking basic physical attributes like body mass index, the team asked questions on tobacco and alcohol consumption, exercise, dietary habits and stress factors.
“This study is unique in that it has studied risk factors. We need to work towards minimizing such risks as they are external factors and not genetic,” she said.