Paediatric Surgeons Renew Attack on Heart Problems in Babies

Indian paediatric care has been progressing by leaps and bounds in the last 45 years of its practice as a branch of medicine in India. Constantly, one hears of miracles being performed by doctors in various parts of the country, saving the lives of thousands of children facing problems at birth that need critical attention without delay. Recently Bangalore has emerged as a rapidly developing medical hub with visitors flocking here from all over India and abroad for treatment.

Parents Take Heart, Medical Help is at Hand

In the recent past, Bangalore has taken the lead in healthcare with the highest number of cardiac surgeries being performed in the city. Of these, 30% were paediatric cardiac surgeries. There are 1.5 to 2 lakh children born in India with congenital heart problems and diseases. In fact, heart disease in newborns is more common than Down’s syndrome but unlike Down’s syndrome, congenital heart disease rarely makes it to an expectant parent’s list of worries due to low awareness. According to paediatric surgeons in Bangalore, 90% of the heart problems in children are curable with timely intervention. An additional deciding factor is that the cost of treatment in North India is roughly 30% more than it is here. 

It’s not just Indians who are flocking to Bangalore in search of a paediatric surgeon. The city has become a hub for medical tourism, a recent trend that attracts people from developed countries come to destinations like India in search of quality treatment at the fraction of what it would cost them back home. At present, the city sees the maximum number of patients coming in from the Gulf countries for treatment. Similarly, the cost of treatment in Bangalore is approximately 10% easier on the pocket than in Singapore, Europe and the US.

In the period between 2014 and 2016, there were 88,020 patients from abroad in the city for treatment. As far back as 2007, there were almost seven lakh medical tourists in Bangalore from the US alone seeking specialized medical help in state-of-the-art facilities. There were patients from Bangladesh, Iraq, Yemen, Maldives, Oman, Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and Indonesia. What drives these patients to the city is a diverse range of medical needs including general surgery or specialized procedures such as joint replacement surgery, neurosurgery and more complex tertiary procedures such as paediatric cardiac surgery and organ transplants.