PANAJI
Fatalities from heart diseases and cardiac arrests have recorded a significant 22 per cent jump in the last ten years and the increase has been sharper since 2021 after the Covid pandemic hit.
According to official data, of all the causes of death due to medical reasons heart diseases and cardiac arrest, is one with the highest fatalities -- an average of 12 persons dying daily because of it.
Some doctors we spoke to attribute the trend to lifestyle reasons, unhealthy diets and substance abuse (addiction).
Heart attacks and heart related deaths have aggregated over 44,000 in the 10 years from 2015 to 2024, averaging nearly 367 deaths in a month and a daily average of 12 deaths.
The annual figure of fatalities due to heart diseases and cardiac arrests has been increasing year after year in this 10-year period. While 3,804 people fell victim to heart attacks in 2015, the tally has risen to 4,663 deaths last year (2024).
Also, of all these ten years, 2021, the one following the year in which the Covid-19 pandemic hit the State, reported the highest number of deaths due to heart attacks -- 5,568.
In 2016, 4,100 people had died due to heart disease and cardiac arrest in the State. In 2017 there were 4,013 deaths which rose marginally to 4,025 in 2018.
The number of heart disease and cardiac arrest related deaths in 2019 was 4,586 and it marginally dropped to 4,392 in 2020 only to sharply rise to 5,568 in 2021.
It was 4,361 deaths in 2022, 4,589 in 2023 and 4,663 last year with more men than women affected.
Interestingly, the data shows that rural areas of the State reported more deaths due to heart disease and cardiac arrest in these 10 years. Last year (2024), for instance, 3,486 (74.75 per cent) of the total deaths due to heart attacks were in rural areas while 1,177 (25.24 per cent) of the deaths occurred in urban areas.
But doctors suggest that Goa's main hospital -- Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim -- being shown as located in rural area may possibly be the contributor to this trend. They said the trend that rural folk are more susceptible to heart diseases as the data shows may not therefore be the actual reality on the ground.
