Heart Disease Claims Millions in India as Treatment Gaps Persist

Heart disease causes 28.6 lakh deaths in India every year, making it the most common cause of death in the country. About 27 percent of all deaths in India are due to heart disease, and 62 percent of cardiovascular disease deaths happen prematurely among people aged between 40 and 69 years. Indians also suffer from heart attacks about 10 years earlier than populations in Western countries. Patient experiences highlight deep gaps in emergency response time and healthcare access across both rural and urban settings. Jassuram Khanna, a farmer from Uttarakhand, felt chest tightness and travelled through multiple facilities before reaching a charitable hospital where an ECG confirmed a 100 percent blockage, taking over four hours just to get diagnosed. In urban areas, similar delays occur. Usha Amin, a retired teacher in Thane, experienced a dangerously low pulse and a third-degree heart block, but the initial hospital turned her away because the cardiologist was unavailable, prompting her family to seek emergency care elsewhere. Medical guidelines recommend getting an ECG within 10 minutes of medical contact, but most primary health centres lack ECG machines and trained personnel to read them. Experts note that major heart attacks and death are frequently the first symptoms of heart disease in India due to inadequate screening and low awareness. While the Indian Council of Medical Research INDIAB study reports 315 million people with high blood pressure and 101 million with diabetes, 57 percent of the population does not meet World Health Organization physical activity guidelines.