Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar award winning public health expert Dr. Jeemon Pannyamakkal talks to Mathrubhumi Representative Vinoy Mathew about the threat to the heart health of Keralites.
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Panyamakal Jeemon, who wrote the entrance exam with a desire to study medicine, got B.Sc due to low marks. Got admission for nursing. After completing his graduation from Kozhikode Medical College, he joined the post-graduate course in Public Health at Sreechitra Institute, Thiruvananthapuram. A teacher from Delhi AIIMS who once came to take classes there. Srinath Reddy was impressed by Gemon’s ability to analyze data; Invited to Delhi. It was a turning point. Having studied heart disease and statistics in depth, Jeamon came to the UK and earned a PhD in two and three-quarter years from the University of Glasgow. This was followed by a Masters in Health Economics from the London School of Economics.
This 44-year-old native of Nilambur Akambadam Idivanna is today an infectious disease expert of world concern. About one hundred and sixty research papers have been published on immunology. Recently, Asian Scientist magazine named Dr. as one of the top 100 scientists in Asia. Gemon chose pig farming; The only one from Kerala.
Dr. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award for Best Scientist has been honored by the country. Jeemon is an Associate Professor at Sreechitra Institute, Thiruvananthapuram.
In general, Kerala is leading in the field of health. How about heart health?
The health bomb has exploded in Kerala. This is the land where a 16-year-old girl has a heart attack. Here, 40 percent of people above the age of 18 have high blood pressure or diabetes. It doesn’t take long for it to turn into heart disease. Know when a heart attack is coming. As of 2017-18, the average blood pressure of adults is 132. Doesn’t it mean that at least half of them are more than that? It was a big event when more than half a lakh people died due to Covid here. But we are not shaken by the fact that out of ten lakh deaths in Kerala every year, three lakh are due to heart disease. In the total population, 600 out of 100,000 people die of heart disease. The national average is only 300. In terms of heart disease, Kerala has been experiencing the same situation for 100-120 years in developed countries. Our health workers are not used to this.
Can’t stop it?
Of course. We should know the experience of Finland. There was the current situation in Kerala in the sixties. Husbandry was the main occupation of men. More fatty foods. 600-700 out of 100,000 people started dying of heart disease. Women came into the field when they had to become widows at the age of 40-50. The government was forced to change its policy. Subsidy has been announced for those who build fruit orchards instead of cattle farms. The amount of fat in the diet is controlled. 82 percent of the disease was controlled in 15 years. Today 90 out of 100,000 people die of heart disease there.
What should Kerala do?
Awareness is key. The perception that infectious disease means cholera and tuberculosis must change. Any disease beyond a certain proportion is contagious. Health care is not about reducing salt intake in the fifties.
16 percent of teenage girls have fallopian tube tumors. 60 percent of such people are at risk of diabetes. Children born from them will be more susceptible to disease. This can be prevented if teenage girls are involved in sports activities.
To encourage exercise, parks should be constructed and provided facilities in each panchayat. Blood pressure screening facilities should be provided at all public places. All possible means should be adopted to create awareness among the people. Barbershops in America and Britain used it. These are the kinds of things barbers talk to people about during haircuts. They were given special training for that. This has resulted.
A family effort is better than one trying to control the risk of disease alone. In a house, everyone eats the same food. Such preventative measures take time to bear fruit.
Kidney disease is the other end of heart disease. We prefer to open more dialysis centers instead of taking steps to prevent it. Politically it could be an advantage. But what is needed in the long run is prevention.
Aren’t such efforts going on in Kerala now?
Not effective. In Kerala, only 16 percent of people are able to control their blood pressure on their own. In Canada, 85 percent of people live. This proves that we, who are next to them on the Human Development Index, can walk if we try. It must be remembered that heart disease and its treatment are financially devastating for many families. It is estimated that the Indian economy is losing billions of dollars (one trillion dollars) in revenue due to working-age diseases.
Content Highlights: Dr. Jeemon pannyamakkal, heart health, health
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