BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has announced that the Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyothi Yojane (Karnataka STEMI Management Programme) will be expanded to all taluk hospitals across the state. The announcement was made on the occasion of World Heart Day, on Monday.
Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao highlighted that the scheme launched to address the rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases has made a significant impact. So far, electrocardiograms (ECGs) have been conducted for 9,21,020 individuals under the programme.
Of these, 13,515 patients were diagnosed with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) cases, while 7,815 individuals with severe cardiac complications received advanced treatment, including thrombolysis, angioplasty, stenting, and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), he minister added.
Rao highlighted that the timely administration of ‘Tenecteplase injections’ under the scheme has successfully prevented sudden cardiac arrest in 1,106 patients. The government noted that the initiative has already saved thousands of lives and aims to reduce cardiac mortality further through its statewide expansion, he added.
Urging the public to avail the benefits of the scheme, he said, “The public is advised that anyone experiencing chest pain should not ignore the symptoms but should avail themselves of the free screening facilities under the scheme and obtain necessary treatment without delay.”