New Delhi: "Around 60,000 to 90,000 children attract heart diseases in the country and only 15,000 to 20,000 are cured. This gap needs to bridged on a war-footing and greater awareness need to be raised," Dagar says.
One suggestion, Dagar, Chief Surgeon and Head - Neonatal and Congenital Heart Surgery at Max Hospitals, gives is a special test for women between their 16th and 20th week of pregnancy during which doctors can diagnose whether there are problems in the heart of the baby.
"If the test is negative then there is 90 per cent chance that the child will not have congenital heart ailment," he says, while pitching for training of more manpower so that the technical expertise can be made use of.
Another leading cardiologist M R Girinath said cardiac diseases are assuming "epidemic proportions" in the country.
If this trend has to be stopped, Girinath says, the focus should be on prevention involving the control of risk factors that promote the development of the disease.
PTI
