Joint venture to tackle heart attacks in India, US launched

Seeking to reduce the incidence of mortality from growing number of heart attacks in India and the US, a prominent body of Indian-American physicians has joined hands with a leading NGO fostering cardiac care in US.
The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI)-The American Heart Association (AHA) Liaison Committee, chaired by Vemuri S Murthy, has announced that a Letter of Intent (LOI) between the two organisations has been signed.
The collaboration will consider programmes such as: introducing the AHA curriculum of resuscitation science in all Indian Medical Colleges; and working together to help community programmes in India and US enhancing the awareness of heart attacks and strokes.

The collaboration will help develop Training Faculty in Resuscitation, AAPI said in a statement.
"The committee chaired by Dr Murthy will function closely with AHA in India and US helping realise the mission, especially in working towards building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke," Dr Jayesh Shah, President of AAPI, said.
"With participation of US Physicians of Indian origin and their counterparts in India, the American Heart Association and AAPI conferences are expected to strengthen the ongoing collaboration," he said.

"The workshop on Resuscitation, involving hundreds of Indian healthcare leaders and providers, is designed to address the global crisis of increasing morbidity and mortality due to heart attacks and strokes.

"The team of panelists from US and India will discuss the recent evidence-based advances in resuscitation science to enhance the quality of global health, with specific focus on India," Shah said.
The aim of this collaboration is to work closely with Indian Physicians to address the lack of adequate training of Emergency Room Physicians and to provide a uniform curriculum for Emergency Care Education in the Medical Colleges.
Dr Ravi Jahagirdar, President-elect of AAPI, referred to a recent study by the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), stating that heart disease has emerged as the number one killer among Indians.

India, with more than 1.2 billion people, is estimated to account for 60 per cent of heart disease patients worldwide.
According to the World Health Organisation, heart related disorders will kill almost 20 million people by 2015, and they are exceptionally prevalent in the Indian sub-continent, the statement said.