A HEART surgery in India for only RM11,000! In this age of spiralling medical costs, one NGO still offers hope to the poor, writes PATRICK SENNYAH.

Charles said he was treated well at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Health City Hospital in Bangalore and was attended to by the best surgeons in the world.

MediAssist4U provides high quality medical screening services, specialists check-ups, telemedicine, cross border medical communication and referral services through national and international networking of medical organisations and associations.

A priority goal of MediAssist4U is cardiac screening to help members of the public achieve a longer and better life through prevention and control of heart diseases.

Usually, the blockage is caused by atherosclerosis, the build up of fatty deposits (plaque) inside the artery. This build up is like the dirt that blocks a drainpipe and slows the flow of water.

Heart disease is not due to a single cause. Instead, it is linked to several coronary risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension (increased blood pressure), obesity, smoking, stress, diet, sedentary lifestyle, age, hereditary (family history of heart attack), and lack of exercise.

To date, Dr Shetty and his team have performed more than 20,000 major heart surgeries, of which 8,000 were on children, many of them newborn babies.

The team is also responsible for building four of the largest heart hospitals in India , among them the BM Birla Heart Research Centre in 1989, and The Manipal Heart Foundation (1997).

Subsequently, they founded the Asia Heart Foundation which built East India's largest heart hospital, The Rabindranath Tagore Institute of Cardiac Science, and a 780-bed heart hospital in Bangalore called Narayana Hrudayalaya.

To help poor patients in rural areas, Dr Shetty and his team set up one of the world's largest chains of coronary care units in association with the Indian Space Research Organisation and various State Governments.

"It is our mission to make healthcare affordable to the masses in Third World countries. Globally, less than eight per cent can afford heart surgery," he said during his visit to MediAssist4U here, recently.

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