ISLAMABAD: A research centre will be established to figure out reasons behind the increase in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among people in the country so that steps can be taken accordingly for their prevention.

The centre will be established in a six-storey building at a cost of Rs8 billion and the defence ministry has been nominated as the executing agency of the project. Construction of the building will be completed in three years and all cardiology institutions will become members of the centre.

Health Services Academy Vice Chancellor Dr Shahzad Ali Khan has been nominated as focal person for the project and as a representative of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS).

Talking to Dawn, Mr Khan said: “Research will be carried out to find out which foods and medicines cause reactions in people. The proposal for establishment of this centre was floated two years back however many wanted to know why research should be carried out near the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology and National Institute of Heart Diseases (AFIC-NIHD). I had pointed out that many people prefer to go to AFIC for treatment which is why research must be done there.”

Mr Khan said the centre would therefore be established in front of the AFIC-NIHD in Rawalpindi.

“I believe that the centre will play a vital role towards finding reasons for increasing cases of heart diseases and solutions to address them,” he added.

Food and medicines have side effects and these can vary depending on what people’s health choices are, he said, adding that, “we have results of research carried out on people in other countries but we cannot depend on it.”

According to data, collected by the World Health Organisation and the NHS ministry, every year 17 million people die of heart diseases across the globe. In 2016, around 19pc deaths were reported due to heart-related issues in Pakistan but now, as per reports, this number has gone up to 29pc, which means that 47 people die of a heart attack every hour.

Published in Dawn,June 7th, 2022