KARACHI: Heart and lung diseases continue to be the leading cause of death in Pakistan and account for one in four deaths.

Apart from creating public awareness on what could help minimise risk to these ailments, there is a dire need that the public health system in the country is strengthened effectively and efficiently.

This was stated by experts at the 20th National Health Sciences Research Symposium, a three-day conference which opened at the Aga Khan University (AKU) on Friday.

Experts call for revamping public health system to combat ailments

The conference theme is ‘Heart and lungs; from prevention to regeneration’.

While sharing data on heart and lung diseases, experts also discussed how patients were benefiting from new procedures and life-saving techniques that had made diagnosis quicker and improved treatment options.

On the progress made in treating heart diseases, experts said that hospitals in Karachi and Islamabad had recently introduced procedures such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), both procedures related to the repairs of aorta, which were earlier available only in leading hospitals of the developed world.

These procedures, they pointed out, had enabled the treatment of late-stage patients whose delicate health and advanced symptoms meant that open-heart surgery was too risky to pursue.

“Together, TAVI and EVAR represent a new way to treat complex heart and vascular disease. They require small incisions in the leg rather than opening up a patient’s chest. Pakistan now has a handful of trained specialists who can practise these advanced techniques.

“The challenge is to understand how to make these treatments more widely available in a cost-effective manner for all of our patients,” Dr Osman Faheem, assistant professor of cardiology at the AKU and an expert in the field of structural heart disease, told the audience.

On the advances made in treating lung diseases, experts spoke about minimally invasive techniques such as video-assisted thoracic surgery and bronchoscopy, which, they said, had brought about vast improvements in the quality of care offered to lung cancer patients in the country.

Both procedures required only tiny cuts to the body and enabled surgeons to detect and tackle tumours in a more precise and less painful way, they pointed out, while discussing developments in how to treat lung cancer without surgery.

The results of new stem-cell based therapies for patients suffering from heart failure were also presented at the conference.

While still at experimental stages, speakers noted that the placement of stem cells into damaged and diseased hearts offered a way to “regenerate” and thereby regain lost function.

They also explored options in the existing technologies and diagnostic methodologies. For instance, 3D echo and cardiac MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) presented a much more detailed picture of the heart to all healthcare providers.

When combined with 3D printers, they offered the ability to create accurate heart models which provided surgeons and physicians with the best information to tackle chronic and acute heart disease.

Special sessions on a range of subjects from critical care, basic sciences, cardiothoracic surgery, family medicine and humanities were also held at the conference.

Experts also talked about the important role nurses played in hospitals and community settings, in the care of those suffering from cardiopulmonary diseases.

In addition to understanding the physical, psychological and social needs through research, nurses were actively involved in areas such as cardiac rehabilitation, it was said.

Speaking about the event’s objectives, conference chair Professor Saulat Fatemi said: “Our goal is to establish a range of collaborative projects at the university so that cutting-edge research and clinical innovations from around the world can benefit Pakistani patients. To achieve this, we are setting up committees with our international speakers so that this conference has a long-term impact.”

The conference’s objectives, he said, were in line with global efforts to achieve targets under Goal 3 (ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) of Sustainable Development Goals. One of its targets called for special efforts to reduce premature deaths caused by cardiovascular conditions by a third by 2030.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2017