Bangalore-based Wockhardt Hospital & Heart Institute has launched an innovative mobile kiosk, which aims at promoting awareness on prevention of heart disease. This is the first such initiative by a heart hospital in the country. Wockhardt has invested Rs. 12 lakh for the four kiosks and the software developed for the technology costs Rs. 3.8 lakh. The kiosk technology follows close of the heels of the Wockhardt's 'Heart Disease Prevention Project' that was launched last year and completion of 100 public awareness programmes in the city.

The kiosk developed in association with BPL and Forsee Multimedia aims at evolving the interest of the people with innovative ideas like quiz which brackets the user according to the risk factor, gives simple solutions through diet, exercise important factors to combat heart diseases and also explains what heart diseases are all about with necessary diagnostic methods and what they accomplish. All this is done in a simple language without much of medical jargon, with colourful visuals for an easy understanding of prevention and cure of heart diseases.

Vishal Bali, general manager, Wockhardt hospital and heart institute said that the entire programme was conducted free of cost and the hospital has four kiosks which would be installed in corporate offices, public sector units, social service organisations in Bangalore as a first phase of the awareness programme. The kiosk would be moved from organisation to organisation every two weeks. This would be strengthened with public awareness lectures by cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons in the respective organisations.

The touch screen kiosk, which was developed over a period of eight months, contains a set of 60 questions for the quiz, which was developed by a clinical psychologist and cardiologist, Bali informed.

The kiosk has been tested in some corporate like Mico, Digital, Comapc, while organisations like Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation [KPTC] and IBM have requested for kiosks.

In the next stage, Wockhardt will be coordinating the Rotary Clubs to place the kiosks in strategic locations in the city and also move to rural areas. "We will also be adopting a programme in laocal languages for the benefit of the rural masses.

As many as 12 million people in the country are affected with heart disease while records at Wockhardt reveal that average age of heart disease is now 40 years instead of the earlier 55 to 60 years ten ago, Bali said.