How Karnataka plans to get to the heart of cardiac deaths striking the young
'The report found that Covid vaccines were not a factor,' said health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao at a media conference on July 7, adding that vaccination had, on the contrary, been beneficial.The debate over Covid vaccines has been in the news in the past week after chief minister Siddaramaiah's comment—in the context of 20 deaths in Hassan district alone over the past month—that 'hasty approval and distribution of the Covid vaccine could also be a reason'. The remark had drawn criticism from several quarters, notably biotech industry veteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. She pointed out that the word 'hasty' was inappropriate since the vaccines developed in India were approved under an Emergency Use Authorisation framework.The Karnataka panel observed that current data did not support the belief that 'Long Covid' was responsible for the rise in sudden cardiovascular events among the young. Rather, it suggested that a rise in the prevalence of common risk factors that lead to cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, dyslipidemia or high cholesterol, was the best explanation for the rise in sudden cardiovascular events.'Based on the recommendation, we have decided that sudden deaths outside hospitals should be declared as a notifiable disease,' said Rao, adding that autopsies in such cases will be made mandatory. The minister informed that the health department will also extend its ongoing scheme for emergency care, called Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyoti scheme, to all taluk-level hospitals.advertisementPuneeth, a popular Kannada actor, died in October 2021 at the age of 46. He had suffered a heart attack, apparently after a gym workout. His sudden death had headlined the rising concern about cardiac fatalities striking young Indians.The scheme, under which 750,000 patients have been screened since November 2023, is designed on a hub-and-spoke model and currently connects as many as 86 district and taluk hospitals to super-speciality hospitals. Alongside, Rao said, an initiative to install automated external defibrillator (AED) devices in public places will be taken up, depending on the availability of trained personnel.AEDs are portable electronic devices used to handle life-threatening cardiac events.The health department also plans to ramp up awareness campaigns and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training programmes besides taking up annual basic health screening for government employees and for school students aged 15 and above.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsMust Watch
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