Mumbai reported average of 98 deaths/day due to heart attack between January-June 2021: RTI report

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According to the information provided by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) public health department, 17,880 deaths due to heart attack were reported from January 2021 to June 2021 (in six months) as compared to 5,633 deaths reported in the year 2020.

The information received from the Right to Information (RTI) application further reveals that in 2019 and 2018, the number of deaths due to heart attack in the city were 5,849 and 8,601 respectively. According to the response given in the RTI, the MIS cell of the health department is still processing the data on the cause of deaths reported from July to December 2021. The application was filed by RTI activist Chetan Kothari.

As per city-based doctors, they too have seen an increase in the number of heart ailment cases since last year.

Dr Ankur Phatarpekar, Director Cath Labs and Interventional Cardiologist, Symbiosis Hospital, Mumbai, says, "As, Covid-19 cases began to proliferate in India starting in 2020, very less people chose not to undergo cardiac screenings or seek timely intervention out of fear of becoming infected with the virus while visiting hospitals. The entire focus shifted to the treatment of Covid-19 patients since the start of the pandemic and as many research reports suggested management of important non-communicable diseases like- cardiac ailments, cancer, strokes, etc. took a backseat."

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He adds, "An average cardiologist sees a minimum of 10 to 15 heart attack cases per week with an average age group between 35-60 years. The reason behind an increase in the emergency footfall of patients in Mumbai ER with heart attacks could be a sedentary lifestyle during the pandemic. A lot of cases still go unreported, people have avoided early diagnosis and treatment even after getting a heart attack is a sad reality for our times."

Besides this, as per the data of the Maharashtra government's medical emergency bike ambulance service, they received nearly 561 calls for cardiac cases in 2021 out of 860 calls in the past three years. The city-based bike ambulance attended a maximum number of cardiac cases last year (561 cases) as compared to 2020 (158 cases) and 2019 (141 cases).