Dear Friends in Heart Care Foundation

As we welcomed the new year 2023, I also welcome all of you to the activities of the Foundation for the year 2023.After a very successful ‘Heartathon’ over the last world heart day, active participation in the Spice coast Marathon, multiple awareness classes and so on, the Foundation enters a new horizon of activities in 2023. These massive projects are aims at saving lives as well as improving the life quality through education and awareness programs. Kerala is the health hub of India and at the same time the capital of health issues also. This may be partly related to the increase’s longevity, affordability and availability of health-related data.

Common non-communicable diseases causing great threat to a healthy life are diabetes, hypertension, cardio vascular diseases, cancer and lung diseases. Unless interventions are made to prevent and control non-communicable diseases, their burden is likely to increase substantially in future, due to ageing population and changes in life style.

Considering the high cost of medicines and longer duration of treatment, this constitutes a greater financial burden to low income groups. Rampant modernisation and urbanisation, drastic lifestyle changes, heavy dependency on alcohol and tobacco, affinity for white collar jobs, unhealthy eating patterns, low priority for physical exertion, high levels of stress in all strata of population are some of the reasons contributing to the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in the state.

In India, it is estimated that 42 percent of total death are due to NCDs. In Kerala, the situation is more serious as more than 52 percent of the total death between the productive age group of 30 and 59 is due to NCD. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardio vascular diseases, stroke and cancer are the major non communicable diseases seen in Kerala. Sudden cardiac death also in on the ascend.

We need to focus on such factors when we design the health care reforms in future. That’s where the Foundation can play a major role and is doing so currently. I urge all the friends and members of the Foundation to support the activities in the coming years too.

Thanking you

Yours Sincerely

Dr. Jose Chacko Periappuram
Chairman HCF