Karnataka to Mandate Yearly Heart Checks Amid Rising Cardiac Deaths

In response to increasing rates of sudden cardiac death caused by heart attacks, the Karnataka government will soon make it mandatory for every employee working in the corporate and private sectors to get a health checkup annually, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on July 7. The goal is to improve early prevention and detection of cardiovascular disease, particularly among the under-45 age group.

Government, along with contractual workers, will also be instructed to undergo regular heart check-ups, Rao added during a press conference. In addition, all sudden cardiac arrest deaths among people under the age of 45 years will need to be reported to the state health department. Deaths occurring outside government hospitals will be considered non-notifiable cases, and postmortem examinations for death certification will need to be carried out mandatorily.

The government also intends to extend the Puneeth Rajkumar Hriday Jyoti Yojana to all the taluk hospitals. The scheme provides emergency cardiac care and is modeled on the Sanjeevini program. Further augmenting the public access to emergency services, separate Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) will be placed at bus stops and railway stations, and training in CPR will be made available to the public.

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The measures follow after a specialist panel, headed by Dr. KS Ravindranath of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, had submitted its report on post-COVID cardiovascular health. Although up of heart attack episodes has grown by 4–5% after the pandemic, the panel did not establish any direct connection between COVID-19 vaccines and heart disease.

The document brought to the spotlight critical risk factors, including the use of tobacco (leading to almost 50% of heart attacks), obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and steroid abuse. The government also intends to fund heart scans for all students aged 15 years and incorporate the teaching of non-communicable diseases in schools.