How Karnataka plans to get to the heart of cardiac deaths striking the young
'The report found that Covid vaccines were not a factor,' said health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao at a media conference on July 7, adding that vaccination had, on the contrary, been beneficial.The debate over Covid vaccines has been in the news in the past week after chief minister Siddaramaiah's comment—in the context of 20 deaths in Hassan district alone over the past month—that 'hasty approval and distribution of the Covid vaccine could also be a reason'. The remark had drawn criticism from several quarters, notably biotech industry veteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. She pointed out that the word 'hasty' was inappropriate since the vaccines developed in India were approved under an Emergency Use Authorisation framework.The Karnataka panel observed that current data did not support the belief that 'Long Covid' was responsible for the rise in sudden cardiovascular events among the young. Rather, it suggested that a rise in the prevalence of common risk factors that lead to cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, dyslipidemia or high cholesterol, was the best explanation for the rise in sudden cardiovascular events.'Based on the recommendation, we have decided that sudden deaths outside hospitals should be declared as a notifiable disease,' said Rao, adding that autopsies in such cases will be made mandatory. The minister informed that the health department will also extend its ongoing scheme for emergency care, called Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyoti scheme, to all taluk-level hospitals.advertisementPuneeth, a popular Kannada actor, died in October 2021 at the age of 46. He had suffered a heart attack, apparently after a gym workout. His sudden death had headlined the rising concern about cardiac fatalities striking young Indians.The scheme, under which 750,000 patients have been screened since November 2023, is designed on a hub-and-spoke model and currently connects as many as 86 district and taluk hospitals to super-speciality hospitals. Alongside, Rao said, an initiative to install automated external defibrillator (AED) devices in public places will be taken up, depending on the availability of trained personnel.AEDs are portable electronic devices used to handle life-threatening cardiac events.The health department also plans to ramp up awareness campaigns and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training programmes besides taking up annual basic health screening for government employees and for school students aged 15 and above.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsMust Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Depression, heartbreak account for 75% of suicides in Chandigarh
Depression and love affairs gone wrong accounted for 75% to 80% of all suicides in Chandigarh over the last five years, data from the police has revealed. In March this year, a Class-11 student of a government school in Chandigarh reportedly died by suicide at his house. (HT photo for representation) While there has been a decline in the number of suicide cases in Chandigarh since 2024 – the number was significantly high during Covid and post-Covid years – more men than women took the extreme step. As per the data a whopping 545 suicides have been reported since January 2021 till June 30 this year. Out of these, 150 suicides were reported in 2023 alone. In 2022, the number of suicides stood at 131 while in 2021, it was 120. Depression, heartbreak account for 75% of suicides in Chandigarh A total of 274 victims (50%) were in the 18 to 30 group (see box). Every year, the number of suicides by men is double or sometimes even three times the number of women who took their life. In the last five years, 381 men ended their lives as compared to 164 women. In 2021, as many as 84 men took their lives as compared to 36 women from different age groups. In 2022, 91 men and 40 women took the extreme step while in 2023, 113 men and 37 women ended their lives. The following year in 2024, the number showed a dip with 64 men and 32 women taking the extreme step. According to psychologists, family problems, marriage-related issues, such as cancellation/non-settlement of marriage, extra marital affairs, love affairs gone awry, are the main reasons for depression in youth. Increased use of social media leading to anxiety is also emerging as one of the reasons for youngsters falling into extreme depression, they say. In March this year, a Class-11 student of a government school in Chandigarh reportedly died by suicide at his house. The police recovered a suicide note addressed to his mother, in which the boy shared his disturbed mental health due to a social media controversy that had erupted in his school a few months ago. Amongst other reasons falling under the miscellaneous category, accounting for 25% of the suicides, financial problems, unemployment and mental health issues are the reasons for a significant number of suicides. Chandigarh senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kanwardeep Kaur said the police conducts a proper investigation to see that the suicide cases don't involve any foul play or abetment.
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Covid gone, PG doctors who served at TIMS left in the lurch
HYDERABAD: Four years after completing their year-long posting, over 100 postgraduate doctors deployed at the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS), Gachibowli during the Covid-19 pandemic continue to await formal recognition of their service. The delay has affected their eligibility for assistant professor posts in government medical colleges (GMCs), as the health department has yet to acknowledge their service under senior residency. In 2020, around 120 PG doctors from GMCs were deployed for emergency Covid duty at TIMS, with an assurance that their one-year service would be treated as senior residency under the administration of Osmania Medical College (OMC), a prerequisite to apply for assistant professor positions. However, the doctors were issued experience letters from TIMS and not OMC, leaving their senior residency status in dispute. The TIMS certificate is not accepted by state GMCs, private medical colleges or the Health Ministry, as TIMS is not a recognised teaching institution under any state GMC. In contrast, hospitals such as ENT or Niloufer fall under OMC's administrative control and are recognised for teaching purposes. Dr Md Jahangir told TNIE: 'We served during the peak of the Covid crisis, risking our lives. Now, our experience is not recognised anywhere. The certificate by TIMS is not valid, and we are not eligible for the upcoming assistant professor recruitment. It has left us in a difficult position.' Doctors said they were not offered counselling for senior residency postings, a process usually conducted based on merit lists. Instead, they were directly informed of their postings at TIMS without being given any options or clear information about recognition. At the time, they were assured of experience certificates from OMC.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Maharashtra reports 7 COVID-19 cases on Fri, tally sine Jan 1 touches 2620; toll unchanged at 41
Mumbai: Maharashtra reported seven COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the state's tally since January 1 this year to 2,620, a health department official said. No death has been reported since last Saturday, leaving the state's toll since the start of the year at 41, including 40 with comorbidities. Of the new cases, four are from Mumbai, two from Pune and one from Nagpur, the state health department said. A total of 2,532 persons have recovered from the ailment since January 1, while the number of tests carried out stands at 35,516. Mumbai's COVID-19 tally is 1,039, of which 551 were detected in June and 47 in July so far, the health department said.>
