GE Healthcare has teamed up with two hospitals in Karnataka to bring in early healthcare in the rural areas. These include the Manipal Heart Institute and Vivus Group of hospitals operating out of the Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain Hospital. The company's range of products would enable these healthcare providers to diagnose and treat heart disease in the early stages.

Announcing this effort at the Second Early Health Summit in Bangalore, V Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare India, said that diagnostic imaging and monitoring play a pivotal role in the early detection of life-threatening diseases like cardiovascular disease which is growing in India. With our support in terms of technology, imaging and clinical monitoring are bringing in higher efficiencies and huge cost savings to healthcare providers and better outcomes for patients by detecting diseases early."

With the Manipal Heart Institute, GE Healthcare has started a mobile cardiac screening program model to take early detection to the door steps of the patients. A series of three 3 mobile vans with portable, battery operated cardiac screening ultrasound systems, ECG systems, emergency support care systems and healthcare personnel have gone to the remotest villages in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to screen people who earlier did not have any indication of cardiac disease symptoms.

During the six month initial phase, 642 camps were organized across the three states. A total of 57000 normal, asymptomatic patients were screened. The 1558 people found to have severe cardiac risk, which otherwise would have gone un-noticed till a heart attack would have happened. Around 833 of them were treated at Manipal Heart Institute and are now leading healthy lives.

Through this initiative, we prevented close to 1600 probable heart attacks in the last six months by identifying the 'at-risk' category of people and by treating them proactively, R Basil, Managing Director and CEO, Manipal Health Systems.

Vivus partnered to create India's first Mobile Cardiac Treatment facility to take cardiac treatment to the doorsteps of rural India. The facility comes in the form of a trailer with hygienic operation room fitted with mobile angiography system for performing screening and surgery. Currently cathlab facilities exist only in big towns of India and patients have to travel along with their relatives for screening and treatment. The mobile trailer goes to select villages on weekends for routine check ups and if need be procedures are performed in the Mobile Cath Lab fitted in the vehicle. Currently it is operating in four centres across Karnataka: Mandya, Kolar, Hassan, and Tumkur and so far about 1000 angiograms have been performed. The Karnataka government has also permitted Vivus to access the state hospitals at Mandya, Kolar and Hassan.

"Initially, when we planned to take healthcare to the poor in rural areas we found that the chance for setting up cardiac camps was limited. Patients had to travel to the nearest city for medical attention. Our partnership with GE Healthcare provided a solution where we could provide advanced, quality, healthcare through a one of its kind facility in the country, stated Dr S S Ramesh, Founder and Managing Director, VIVUS Hospitals.