Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre (SGNHC) is imparting training to medical staff of Bheri Zonal Hospital, Nepalgunj, and started the process to procure equipment as part of its plan to expand the services and set up a state-of-the-art laboratory in the town of the mid-western region.

The SGNHC signed a memorandum of understanding with Bheri Zonal Hospital in February to start cardio services. At present, two doctors, four nurses and two technicians are undergoing a three-month training programme at the SGNHC.

“We will get the cath lab equipment within two months for the zonal hospital,” said Dr Jyotindra Sharma, director of SGNHC. 

A cath lab is a sophisticated laboratory of a cardiology unit of the hospital where complex procedures such as angiogram and angioplasty are performed and pacemakers are implanted. 

According to Dr Sharma, internal funds were used to procure the cath lab equipment due to the delay on the part of the government to release the money. 

Dr Sharma said Bheri Zonal Hospital has also hired four MBBS doctors to work in the cardiology unit. Among the government health facilities, only the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences offers cath lab services.

Heart care services in Nepalgunj will mean hundreds of patients can get treatment at a relatively lower cost, as they will be saved from travelling to Kathmandu. 

Meanwhile, the SGNHC is also working with Janakpur Zonal Hospital for starting specialised heart services. However, this service expansion may not be modelled on the partnership agreed upon with Bheri Zonal Hospital. 

“We have asked the hospital committee to provide us space to establish a prefabricated building from where SGNHC staff can deliver services,” said Dr Sharma.

According to the Ministry of Health, there is a burden of non-communicable diseases and over 70 percent of patients visiting the out-patient-departments (OPD) seek treatment for NCDs. A recent study showed that nearly one third of the population in the country suffers from hypertension. 

Cardiovascular diseases, chronic non-infectious respiratory diseases, cancers and diabetes mellitus are referred as essential non-communicable disease with well-established common modifiable risk factors. NCDs are emerging as the leading cause of death globally and also in Nepal due to many social determinants like unhealthy lifestyles, globalization, trade and marketing, demographic and economic transitions, according to the World Health Organisation.