Lucknow: Some 108 hearts and lives at risk of cardiac complications have been saved every single day over the past eight years with the help of Ayushman Bharat, an assessment of official data sourced on the eve of World Heart Day showed.This translates into a benefit extended to an average of 39,430 persons per year and totals 3,15,444 lives since the launch of the scheme in 2018.“For many poor families in UP, cardiac emergency meant a catastrophic financial ruin pushing families into the pit of medical poverty with little or no hope of recovery as those affected were usually the breadwinners,” said CEO of State Agency for Comprehensive Health and Integrated Services (SACHIS), Archana Verma.She said UP sanctioned over Rs 2,116.70 crore for advanced cardiac procedures.Citing numbers, Verma said over 1% of the beneficiaries were children afflicted with congenital heart diseases and defects while every third life saved was that of a woman who was earlier left to fate. “Before Ayushman scheme, many children and women died untreated as per social impact studies. A large number of these patients were from rural and peri-urban areas,” she said.President-elect of Cardiological Society of India, Satyendra Tewari, said: “India now loses more people to cardiovascular disease—heart attack, stroke, heart failure and related conditions—than any other cause. It is responsible for every fourth death which totals to 24 to 25 lakh lives annually.”Tewari noted that the average age of a first heart attack in India is 53 to 57 years—at least a decade earlier than in Western nations.He warned of a dual burden: persistent legacy conditions like rheumatic heart disease alongside surging ischaemic heart disease driven by sedentary habits, stress and specific genetic risks.
