Kerala enjoys a unique position in the health map of India. Our health standards are at par with the Western world. We have the lowest infant mortality and maternal mortality rate with the highest life expectancy in the country. However, unfortunately the modern epidemic of cardiovascular disease and Diabetes has become major health crises in Kerala.
Our state has the highest incidence of Coronary Artery Disease and Diabetes in the country. The prevalence of diabetes in the state is about 8% and the prevalence of heart disease is 10-12% compared to a national average of 3-5%. Similarly the incidence of heart attacks here is twice more common when compared to the rest of the country. Majority of deaths in our community occur due to heart diseases, which is rising every year, while deaths due to infections are waning. The saying is very true in Kerala “In earlier times, starvation consigned languishing bodies to death; now, prosperity plunges them into the grave.” It is clear we are sitting on an epidemic of Heart Disease and Diabetes. If things remain as they are, one in every four of us will have heart disease by the year 2025.
Why is it that we have a higher prevalence of heart disease in our community? Even though genetic and a host of traditional risk factors like Smoking, Diabetes, Hypertension, Alcohol consumption etc. play a major role, studies have proven that there is a clear link between dietary habits and disease profile in our population. Could increased consumption of saturated fatty acids- coconut oil in our state be one of the many causes. It’s hard to ascertain the facts, considering the lack of scientific data and pressures of our economy.

The Heart Care Foundation has arrived not a day too soon. If the incidence of Heart disease in Kerala is simply staggering, its annual increase is extremely alarming. Various causes have been attributed to this phenomenon ranging from genetic predilections to life style perversions. This is an area for the specialists to discuss and give directions. I shall not venture into their domain.

Be that as it may, it is evident that a multi pronged initiative is imperative to contain the scourge. Heart Care Foundation (HCF) has rightly laid equal emphasis on three key areas – the Promotional, the Preventive and the Therapeutic.

During my fairly long association with educational institutions, I often come across instances of Heart attacks inflicting catastrophic consequences on families. The smooth and tranquil flow of many a family is suddenly devastated by a member seized by – and often succumbing to – an ‘attack’. It even results in an otherwise promising child driven to discontinuing his/her studies.

It was against this backdrop that a suggestion was made to target the student community to spread the message of the HCF. People generally get moved by gentle yet persistent pressure by children than by professionals. It is only reasonable to expect at least a few parents to abandon their wayward habits and return to sober lifestyles yielding to the endearing entreaties of their dear children.

“I understand that Dr. Jose Chacko Periyappuram who successfully conducted the first heart transplantation in Kerala, has started Heart Care Foundation in Kochi to provide Heart surgery for 1000 needy and financially backward patients of government medical colleges in a five year time. Being associated with such a noble service project of lions club international, I feel it is my duty to associate with Save a Heart, Save a Life, Save a Family project.”

His Excellency the Governor of Kerala Mr. R.L. Bhatia, other dignitaries on the dias, distinguished invitees, ladies and gentlemen,

Let me at the very outset express my profound thanks to the Heart Care Foundation for having invited me to render a felicitation address on this unique and memorable occasion of launching the foundation. The very presence of H.E. the governor of Kerala, Bhatiaji, at this function shows the importance he personally and his government attaches to this major initiative. Every year hundreds of thousands of people in India alone are stricken by Heart Attacks; a very disturbing trend indeed. Many of us have a notion that a heart attack strikes the victim all of a sudden, as though a bolt from the blue. But this is far from the true. A heart attack is like an earthquake. It takes years in the making and hits the victim without any warning as in the case of former U.S President Bill Clinton, who inspite of the best medical care possible, including periodic testing and all the right drugs, could not command clear arteries. Yet unlike an earthquake, a heart attack can be prevented. It is in this context the launching of the foundation assumes importance, because, one of the major aims of the foundation is to create awareness among the public about Cardio Vascular diseases and heart attack in particular. For the successful functioning of the foundation the focus shall be on prevention by disseminating information through media, print and electronic, distribution of leaflets etc highlighting the various risk factors associated with heart attacks viz; smoking, Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, hyperlipidemia and so on. Such preventive measures will go a long way in reducing the incidence of myocardial infection among our population.