KARACHI, Jan 20: The government as well the community of doctors don’t attach enough importance to coronary diseases among Pakistani children. Doing so would be akin to investing in the country’s future.

This was stated by some participants of an international workshop on cardiovascular interventions on Sunday. Some of the resources normally reserved for heart diseases among the adult population should be diverted for care of the sick children, they opined.

Talking to Dawn, they said the money spent on children suffering from heart diseases would be resources well spent. But since the resources available locally were not unlimited, a balance should be struck between what should be reserved for children and what for the adult population.

Dr Najma Patel of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases said congenital problems among children could not be eradicated or minimized by investment. “But the acquired ailments can be targeted.”

These ailments are linked to the use of wrong kinds of foodstuffs and unhealthy lifestyles, according to Dr Patel.

Prof Shakeel A. Qureshi of the Guys Hospital in London said the incidence of heart diseases among Pakistani children seemed to be high.

Not enough hospitals and institutes of the country had specialized units that catered to the needs of the sick children. This problem needed to be addressed, he said.

“There are only three such institutions, one each in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. This is clearly not enough.”

Dr Qureshi said since the last four to five years “keyhole” procedures, that is non-surgical operations, were being performed upon children at the NICVD. “Even complicated ailments, including holes in the heart, were being treated through the said procedures.”

Dr Patel told Dawn that Dr Qureshi was among the few people who had trained the NICVD’s staff in the area of paediatric care.

The NICVD’s executive director, Prof Azhar Masood Faruqui, said that the resources available weren’t clearly insufficient. “But still a beginning has been made as some paediatric units have been established in some local hospitals.”

Turning to a related issue, the professor said the age of the Pakistanis suffering from heart ailments was declining. “Now it’s not uncommon to see people in the 30s and 40s to report to the NICVD after having suffered a heart attack. “This is a clearly worrying development.”

Prof Faruqui said children should be educated about healthy lifestyles. “We cannot invest too much resources in this area. But we certainly can create awareness among children so that they avoid indulging in practices that fuel heart ailments.”