TDP AP State president Palla Srinivasa Rao inaugurating the Command Centre at the Apollo Hospitals on the occasion of World Heart Day, in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
| Photo Credit: BY ARRANGEMENT
World Heart Day will be observed on Tuesday (September 29), with the World Heart Federation’s campaign this year, “Don’t Miss a Beat”, urging people to recognise symptoms of heart disease early. Hospitals in Visakhapatnam have marked the occasion with new services and awareness messages.
Senior cardiologists Dr. N.K. Panigrahi, Dr. D.K. Baruah and Dr. Trivedi, nephrologist Dr. T. Ravi Raju and orthopaedician Dr. I. Satish Raju were among those present at Apollo Hospitals on Monday, when it launched an advanced command centre . The facility was inaugurated by Palla Srinivasa Rao, Gajuwaka MLA and Telugu Desam Party State president.
It links a smart ambulance network, tele-ECG services for more than 15 nursing homes, connected-care devices, telemedicine and the airport medical centre. In the ambulances, ECGs and vital signs are sent to specialists while the patient is in transit, allowing emergency and cath lab teams to prepare before arrival.
The hospital also introduced an AI-based cardiac risk score, which rates a person’s 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease as low, moderate or high, and a campaign, “Know Your Risk and Raise Your HQ”, with HQ standing for Heart Quotient. Mr. Srinivasa Rao said such services would reduce the need for patients to travel to other cities and strengthen the city’s standing as a healthcare hub.
Dr. Panigrahi said India had become the diabetes capital of the world. “About 33 crore people have high blood pressure and 35 crore have high levels of bad cholesterol. Ten crore are diabetic and 23 crore are pre-diabetic, while 5 to 10 per cent of children are obese. Prevention of heart disease should start in schools and homes, from a young age,” he said.
Between 10% and 15% of heart attacks occur in people below 45, he said. “Early treatment requires early detection. Blood clots open better in younger individuals if medicine is administered early. This is where the advanced Command Centre comes into play, as it will connect different centres,” he added.
Separately, Dr. Ganesh Kasinadhuni, chief interventional cardiologist at KIMS Hospitals, Seethammadhara, said coronary artery disease, once regarded as a condition of the elderly, was now appearing a decade earlier, with heart attacks common in people in their late 30s and 40s. Citing the INTERHEART study, he said the average age at a first heart attack among South Asians was 53, against 63 in Western Europe, China and Hong Kong.
Abdominal obesity, diabetes, sedentary and stressful work, diets high in refined carbohydrates, smoking, alcohol and genetic predisposition were contributing factors, he said. Chest pressure on exertion, unusual breathlessness and pain radiating to the jaw, arm or back need immediate attention. He advised regular checks of blood pressure, glucose and lipids after the age of 30, earlier with a family history.
Published – September 28, 2026 11:24 pm IST
