KARACHI, Jan 8: It’s a well-known fact that the first 15 minutes following a heart attack are a matter of life and death for a patient. It’s these 15 minutes in which the battle against heart failure is either won or lost.

In the past, many a Karachiite has simply lost this battle because he or she couldn’t be given proper care during this highly critical period. Many of the lost lives, without any doubt, could have been saved had the deceased lived within 15 minutes of a reliable cardiology unit.

But Karachi has only two cardiology units — the National Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases and the Cardiology Ward in Civil Hospital. Both these units are situated in the city centre, that is far away from the outlying and suburban areas.

“One way in which the casualty figures can be reduced is by opening cardiology units in every important public and private hospital,” said Prof Azhar M.A. Faruqui on Wednesday. “This will ensure that every Karachiite lives within a few miles of a cardiology unit.”

The professor said opening a cardiology unit in a multi-discipline hospital was a cost-effective proposition. “You see every major hospital usually has an X-ray department, a pathological laboratory, besides trained paramedical staff.

“So you don’t have to invest too much when you want to open an additional ward of cardiology in such a hospital.” Prof Faruqui said if cardiology units can be opened in private institutions like Aga Khan University Hospital and Liaquat National Hospital why can’t the same be opened in institutions like Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

He was of the view that Abbasi Shaheed Hospital badly needed a cardiology ward. “If such a unit is established in this hospital all people living in the northern part of the city will benefit greatly.”

Prof Faruqui said the lives of many people brought to his NICVD immediately after a heart attack were saved. “However, for every life that is saved there is another which couldn’t be saved.”

Up to 0.5 million people were treated every year in his institution, said the professor. “Six years ago the number of people treated every year was only 0.25 million. But the figure has now gone up to 0.5 million.”

The professor hinted that it’s rather unfair to expect the NICVD to handle highly efficiently all the cases sent its way. The burden on his institution will obviously lessen considerably if cardiology units were established in the city’s other hospitals too.

Prof Faruqui said being an autonomous body, the NICVD was required to raise on its own two-thirds of the money it needed. “The grant that the government gives amounts to only one-third of the total funds required. The rest we have to generate ourselves.”

He said the people viewed the NICVD as a government-run hospital but it was not. “People expect us to provide all the services free of cost. But they forget that a state-owned hospital gets every penny that it spends from the government. But we don’t have that luxury.”

He added that the NICVD depended heavily on donations. “Six years ago we used to get donations of only Rs0.2 million. But today we get Rs20 million in donations.”