Free heart checkups for 4,000 students in Bardibas

By Ravindra Upreti,Bardibas, Feb. 23: A team of heart specialists has conducted free heart screenings for more than 4,000 school students in Bardibas Municipality. This initiative, organised by the Nepal Heart Foundation Mahottari, saw expert doctors visiting schools across various wards in Bardibas to perform the tests.

Led by senior cardiologists Prof. Dr. Prakash Raj Regmi and Dr. Avani Bhushan Sharma, ten specialist doctors worked in separate teams to screen 4,700 students from different schools. The screenings were carried out from 10 AM to 5 PM on Thursday across eight wards of Bardibas Municipality: Ward Nos. 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 14.

Deepak Karki, president of the Nepal Heart Foundation Mahottari, said that the goal was to identify potential heart issues among children. While the target was to screen around 7,000 students from schools within the municipality, only about 5,000 were tested, as some students were absent during the screenings.

For students flagged during the initial checks, advanced echocardiogram (ECHO) tests were conducted at their schools to confirm if they had any heart diseases.

Dr. Regmi informed that 15 students were diagnosed with heart problems. Speaking to the media on Friday, he explained that 8 of them had congenital heart defects, while 7 had rheumatic heart disease. "Two of these students required surgery and we've arranged free surgeries at the Gangalal National Heart Centre," Dr. Regmi said. The remaining 13 students with mild heart issues were given free medication.

Earlier, during an interaction on heart and rheumatic diseases in Bardibas, participants posed several questions. Dr. Regmi highlighted the growing concern about heart diseases in Nepal, with around 30,000 deaths annually due to heart attacks. 

He emphasised the need for awareness of the early symptoms and risk factors, adding, "Heart disease can develop silently and by the time it is noticed, it might be too late. Regular health checkups can prevent heart attacks."

Bardibas Municipality Mayor Prahlad Kshetri also joined the conversation, stressing the importance of expanding life-saving heart screenings. He urged the medical team to extend this programme to people over 50 years old as well.

This marks the first heart screening initiative for students in Bardibas, with support from Bardibas Municipality, the Rotary Club of Bardibas and the District Traffic Police, who made the programme possible.