Under the Centre’s Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), the state has scaled up CHD care for children through medicines and surgeries, and by setting up a new Rs 20-crore CTVS surgery unit at JK Lon Hospital in 2025. Similar cardiac facilities are set to come up at other state hospitals.JK Lon Hospital’s CTVS unit is taking in cases of atrial septal defect (ASD), one of the most common heart defects in children that calls for surgical treatment. In ASD, a child’s heart has an abnormal opening in the septum that separates the upper chambers (atria). Children with infections that wear down heart valves and then need surgery have also been reported. Several congenital conditions affecting the heart’s arteries that also call for surgery in children have been logged at the centre.The health department is stepping up efforts to pick out children with CHD so they can get treated on time. A senior health department official said, “Under the Centre’s RBSK, treatment for heart diseases and other conditions in newborns and children has been steadily built up through various state government schemes. This has helped save the lives of many children with complex conditions.”
