NICVD will provide free stenting to 25% heart patients: Minister
“We also plan to make all stenting free in this hospital in the future,” he said
The state-run National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) will start providing free stent surgeries to 25% of its patients soon, health minister Zahid Maleque announced Tuesday.
"Most of the patients suffering from heart diseases are forced to sell their houses to install rings and replace heart valves. We will soon provide free stenting in this hospital for the convenience of patients," he said while inaugurating staff residential quarters at the specialised hospital in the capital.
"We also plan to make all stenting free in this hospital in the future," he said
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He said a total of 9,000 stent surgeries take place at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases every year. Of these, only 600 are done for free.
He added that 35,000 stent surgeries take place nationwide annually.
Zahid Maleque also said about 70% of patients of the country die of non-communicable diseases with 20% of them suffering from coronary ailments.
Countrywide, 150,000 people a year, 12,000 a month and 400 a day die due to heart diseases, he stated.
"We focused on 10-20 people dying everyday [from the novel coronavirus] during the Covid-19 pandemic, but we do not give much importance to the fact that so many people are dying of heart disease daily," the minister observed.
