'World class heart treatment available in Bangladesh'
With rising trends of heart ailments in the country, facilities for treatment of cardiac diseases at affordable costs have improved.
Saying this at a Prothom Alo roundable on Tuesday, health experts and activists termed the treatment for cardiac patients at home as world class.
They still regretted that many of those who die of heart diseases are young people and such deaths deal a severe blow to the families.
Also, there is a serious lack of public awareness about treatment facilities for heart diseses available so far at different hospitals, the experts pointed out.
They, however, said such facilities should be expanded across the country as most of the facilities are Dhaka-centric.
Khondaker Abdul Awal Rizvi, National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh secretary, insisted that world class treatment for heart diseases is available and at a affordable cost in Bangladesh now.
"I want to assure people that they do not need to go to foreign countries for treatment of cardiac diseases," he told the roundable.
Incepta Pharmaceuticals' Mohammad Mizanur Rahman added that modern medicines for treating heart patients are available at home and they are cheaper.
Prothom Alo organised the roundtable titled "Heart Attack: Bangladesh Perspective, Awareness and Modern Treatment" in association with National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh and Incepta Pharmaceuticals.
The stakeholders called for strict regulation and harmonisation of costs as different healthcare providers are charging different fees for the same treatment.
National Heart Foundation founder Abdul Malik said if it is not possible to prevent the heart diseases, the nation's future is bleak.
As heart treatment in general is expensive, he underlined the importance of prevention and launching campaign for change in the people's lifestyle, the main cause of heart diseses.
Malik, a national professor, stressed the need for develooping skilled human resources for heart disease treatment.
Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation chairman Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said there should be a strong regulation to ensure that people are not deceived when they receive treatment in the medical centres.
Referring to a dearth of human resources in the sector, Bangladesh Cardiac Society president AKM Mohibullah cited statistics that there are only 5.7 cardiologists for one million people in Bangladesh and 1.2 cardiac surgeons for one million people.
He mentioned that most of the facilities for heart disease treatment are available in Dhaka alone. "We need to expand the facilities across the country," he said.
National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute Cardiology department head Fazila-Tun-Nesa Malik said patients often ignore their heart problems.
"This negligence sometimes leads to death. We need to send message to the masses that heart disease is treatable and people need to consult doctors and go to nearby hospitals if they have chest pain," she said.
BRAC's Health Nutrition and Population Department head Ariful Alam said heart disease puts huge burden on families. "Some familites are pushed back to poverty once their members suffer from heart diseases," he said.
Prothom Alo associate editor Abdul Quayum moderated session which was also addressed by National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Centre associate professor Tawfiq Shahriar Huq, its Epidemiology and Research head Sohel Reza Chowdhury and Prothom Alo's Gawher Nayeem Wahra.