The past two decades have witnessed major health transitions propelled by socio-economic and technological changes as a result of which, disease patterns have undergone major shift. Among these health transitions, the most pervasive change has been the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, what is more worrisome is the fact that a large chunk of Indian population does not have access to essential medicines to deal with the deadly diseases.
According a study published in the British medical journal Lancet, about 80 per cent of Indians don’t receive essential drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular complications. The report pointed out that an average Indian suffering from heart attack or stroke was almost seven times less likely to receive common inexpensive anti-platelet drugs than people from developed countries.
The risk from CVD and access to the right medication can have wide ramifications in the coming years. CVDs can cripple India’s workforce and economy and stunt India’s growth if timely and appropriate public health measures are not instituted.
Moreover, heart disease is no longer confined to urban pockets any longer. It has already emerged as a major cause of death in rural areas. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of people affected by cardio-vascular diseases was about 3.8 crore in 2005 and may go up to 6.4 crore by 2015. Other studies point out that the percentage of people aware of their condition is only 30 per cent in cities/towns and 10-12 per cent in villages.
According to Dr S K Gupta, Cardiologist, Apollo Hospital, “The reason for inaccessibility of drugs by the patients can be linked to many factors, one of them being low awareness. In rural areas, availability can be a major concern, for which government has taken some steps like free healthcare support but gaining the trust for the people is a big challenge. To bridge the gap, it is important that people are educated.”
Along with low access to the essential medicines, there are several other factors that have had a role to play in the increasing number of heart patients. The inactive lifestyle, habits such as excessive consumption of alcohol and smoking, lack of awareness about the lifestyle diseases and the sheer casualness about health related issues is what makes the healthcare scenario in India sordid.
Agrees Dr Neeraj Bhalla, Cardiologist, BLK Memorial Hospital, “India is vast country where accessibility is major concern. Further aggravating the situation is quality of doctors and implementation of standardized treatments in cardiovascular treatments. India lacks an organized structure and quality check of treatments and doctors.”
Access to quality healthcare for all in India has been a far-fetched goal that has still not been achieved. With increasing number of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases, it has become essential to find a way out. According to industry reports, currently there are 1,350 new medicines in the making to tackle non- communicable diseases out of which 299 are for cardiac diseases. These next generation medicines are expected to be far more superior and effective than the present variants and can make patients live longer, healthier and more productive lives. However this process of drug development will be effective only if the medicines reach the patients who need them the most at the right time.