A ray of hope for cardiac patients

Around 25 per cent of the nation’s population suffers from cardiac diseases and 20–22 per cent of them die without treatment annually. Besides, treatment facilities are only Dhaka-based, though cardiac-related treatments need decentralization, feel experts. Also, such facilities are quite inadequate compared with the population of the country. MA Rashid, professor of cardiology and senior consultant of Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital and Research Institute (ICHRI), gave The Independent these details yesterday. ICHRI enshrines the philosophies of Prof. Ibrahim, his vision, mission, and values, which guide the management of the organisation. It is a mono-disciplinary specialized hospital for cardiac treatment. Its main objective is to fill the gap in cardiac care—both preventive and curative—with quality services, at an affordable cost.
“First, the government should introduce cardiac treatment in all medical colleges in the country. Not only should the number be increased, quality treatment should be ensured,” Rashid said.
“Cardiac treatment is very expensive. All necessary items needed for treatment, including machinery and stents, have to be imported,” he added.
He also pointed out that cardiac diseases were mostly preventable with a change in lifestyle, food habits, physical exercise, and proper treatment. “Around 60–70 per cent of cardiac diseases can be prevented by changing the lifestyle,” he said.
Although ICHRI is a non-profit organisation, it has to spend Tk 1.45 crore on subsidy per month for treatment of cardiac patients, Rashid, who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of ICHRI, told this to the correspondent.
“We are providing treatment to the poor free of cost. Insulin is also given free of cost. The ICHRI distributed free insulin worth Tk 9 crore and given free services worth Tk 94 crore last year,” he said.
“The organisation does not get any government subsidy. It is run by donors’ fund. The government gave Tk. 25 crore last year as block allocation,” he added.
The funds are collected from zakat, patients, and donations to run 15 organisations under the ICHRI, Rashid said in reply to a query. In 1957, Prof. Mohammad Ibrahim set up an outpatient clinic at Segun Bagicha, Dhaka, for diabetics. In 1980, the outpatient centre of the Bangladesh Diabetic Association, BIRDEM, was shifted to Shahbag, Dhaka.
Owing to its outstanding contribution to healthcare, BIRDEM was designated as a ‘WHO-Collaborating Centre for Developing Community-oriented Programs for Prevention and Control of Diabetes’ in 1982. It was the first such centre in Asia.
Ibrahim was in charge of the health and population control ministry in the mid-1970s. In recognition of his contributions, the government honoured him by appointing him as the first National Professor from among physicians in 1984.

A ray of hope for cardiac patients

Around 25 per cent of the nations population suffers from cardiac diseases and 2022 per cent of them die without treatment annually. Besides, treatment facilities are only Dhaka-based, though cardiac-related treatments need decentralization, feel experts. Also, such facilities are quite inadequate compared with the population of the country. MA Rashid, professor of cardiology and senior consultant of Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital and Research Institute (ICHRI), gave The Independent these details yesterday. ICHRI enshrines the philosophies of Prof. Ibrahim, his vision, mission, and values, which guide the management of the organisation. It is a mono-disciplinary specialized hospital for cardiac treatment. Its main objective is to fill the gap in cardiac careboth preventive and curativewith quality services, at an affordable cost. First, the government should introduce cardiac treatment in all medical colleges in the country. Not only should the number be increased, quality treatment should be ensured, Rashid said. Cardiac treatment is very expensive. All necessary items needed for treatment, including machinery and stents, have to be imported, he added. He also pointed out that cardiac diseases were mostly preventable with a change in lifestyle, food habits, physical exercise, and proper treatment. Around 6070 per cent of cardiac diseases can be prevented by changing the lifestyle, he said. Although ICHRI is a non-profit organisation, it has to spend Tk 1.45 crore on subsidy per month for treatment of cardiac patients, Rashid, who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of ICHRI, told this to the correspondent. We are providing treatment to the poor free of cost. Insulin is also given free of cost. The ICHRI distributed free insulin worth Tk 9 crore and given free services worth Tk 94 crore last year, he said. The organisation does not get any government subsidy. It is run by donors fund. The government gave Tk. 25 crore last year as block allocation, he added. The funds are collected from zakat, patients, and donations to run 15 organisations under the ICHRI, Rashid said in reply to a query. In 1957, Prof. Mohammad Ibrahim set up an outpatient clinic at Segun Bagicha, Dhaka, for diabetics. In 1980, the outpatient centre of the Bangladesh Diabetic Association, BIRDEM, was shifted to Shahbag, Dhaka. Owing to its outstanding contribution to healthcare, BIRDEM was designated as a WHO-Collaborating Centre for Developing Community-oriented Programs for Prevention and Control of Diabetes in 1982. It was the first such centre in Asia. Ibrahim was in charge of the health and population control ministry in the mid-1970s. In recognition of his contributions, the government honoured him by appointing him as the first National Professor from among physicians in 1984.