M Aamir Khan
Srinagar: Expressing concern over the increase in heart attacks especially among the youth, the Gauri Kaul Foundation on Thursday said it aimed to reduce cardiac arrests by 50 percent during the next four years in Jammu and Kashmir.
Under its Gauri Healthy Heart Project (GHHP), eminent cardiologist Prof Upendra Kaul said they will endeavour to accomplish its ‘Mission of No Heart Attacks by 2025’ by holding camps and other health related programmes in all the districts of the union territory.
“We started this mission last year on the occasion of World Heart Day on September 29, 2020 after hearing news that lots of people, especially the youth, were dying due to heart attacks. We have now kept a deadline of ‘Mission of No Heart Attacks by 2025’. I am not saying there will be no heart attacks but if the rate comes down by 40 to 50 per cent, we will consider our mission a success,” said Kaul, who is the founder director of the Gauri Kaul Foundation.
He made the comments while releasing the annual report of the foundation during a function held here.
Kaul said heart attacks can be reduced greatly by educating people about the ‘modifiable risk factors’.
“We will continue to go to different areas of J&K, create awareness and impart education to people about modifiable risk factors that would help them in preventing heart attacks. There are eight to nine risk factors that are modifiable and include keeping a check on cholesterol, blood pressure, stress, diabetes, etc. Good consumption of vegetables and fruits and exercise can postpone heart attacks by decades. We also need to reduce intake of tea and bread,” he said.
Kaul also stressed on regular check ups of healthy people.
“Health check up of healthy people is very important. For example if somebody’s blood pressure is 130, we can treat it without medicines and we will be going to all districts and joining hands with like-minded people. It is our mission to reach out and we will make all efforts to make our mission a success,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion Financial Commissioner Atal Dulloo, who had kickstarted the GHHP last year, said the government would provide all support so that people have a ‘health heart’.
“A lot of ground has been covered and several medical camps were held across J&K that included free investigations. Early detection is important….the government is taking steps to ensure that people have a healthy heart,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Aijaz Asad and poet and satirist Zareef Ahmad Zareef also spoke on the occasion. Other dignitaries present on the occasion included Prof Khurshid Iqbal, eminent cardiologist: Prof Muhammad Maqbool, HOD IMHANS Srinagar; Mushtaq Ahmed Chaya, J&K Hoteliers Club (JKHC) chairman and others.
