Government figures say that heart-related diseases are the cause of 21 percent of deaths in the country. Even children are dying of heart related diseases. These death figures make it clear that countless people in the country are suffering from heart related diseases and the burden of this disease is huge at the national level.
Medical experts say that heart related diseases are chronic. Treatment of some heart diseases has to be continued for a long time while some diseases require expensive treatment.
Professor Sohail Reza Chowdhury, head of the department of epidemiology and research at the National Heart Foundation, has been studying heart diseases for a long time. “We have been saying for a long time that cardiovascular diseases have taken a strong hold on the people of Bangladesh,” he told Prothom Alo, talking about the latest BBS figures.
“The latest SVRS figures are a realistic reflection of our concern. Tobacco use, low physical exertion, weight gain, unhealthy diet, high salt intake and air pollution are contributing to the increase in heart disease cases as well as deaths due to it in the country. The government will now have to consult experts and decide on the right investments to reduce the risk of heart diseases.
*This report, which was originally published in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Naureen Ahmed Monisha.