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15% of deaths in India were due to heart diseases in 1990; now up to 28%
| Cardiac ailments killed more Indians in 2016 (28%) than any other non-communicable disease, said a new study published in the September 2018 issue of health journal The Lancet. These are double the numbers reported in 1990 when heart disease caused 15% of deaths in India. |
| Deaths due to cardiovascular diseases in India increased from 1.3 million in 1990 to 2.8 million in 2016, and more than half the deaths caused by heart ailments in 2016 were in persons less than 70 years of age, according to the study, ‘The Changing Patterns of Cardiovascular Diseases and Their Risk Factors in the States of India: the Global burden of Disease Study 1990-2016’. |
| Cardiovascular diseases are a collective of various kinds of heart ailments, stroke and diseases of blood vessels nourishing the limbs. Of them, coronary artery disease, also called ischemic heart disease–symptomised by the hardening of arteries–and strokes account for most deaths. |
| How can cardiac disease be tackled as public health crisis? By strengthening primary care through health and wellness centres, starting appropriate referral linkages with secondary and tertiary levels of health care, starting multi-sectoral collaborations to reduce fat, salt and sugar consumption, reducing air pollution, sustaining the anti-smoking campaign and constant surveillance, said Doctor. |