May 1st 2018

With the technical support from Sahid Gangalal National Heart Centre and the support from the local partners, Jayanti Memorial Trust could jointly support in conducting the free cardiac camp that was held at Baglung on 1 May 2018. 79.1 km away from Pokhara, Baglung, is a municipality in western Nepal, 275 km west of Kathmandu. The team reached Baglung in the evening on 30 April. The evening was followed by a small talk program between the team of the camp and the local partners. The camp and was held on the premise of Muktinath Hospital, Baglung. In total two senior cardiac surgeons, three cardiologists, three medical officers, three nurses, one technician and two project supervisors headed for the camp. The camp was also joined by three volunteers from Sewa Samaj.

30^th April 2018

The evening was followed by a talk program between the team from the camp and the local partners of Baglung. The speakers and topics discussed during the talk program were as following:

1^st May 2018

The one-day heart camp in collaboration with Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center’s team was conducted on the next day at the premises of Muktinath Hospital, Baglung. The key local organizer for the camp was The Rotary Club of Baglung and all the camps information was disseminated to the public by FM with the support of the local organizer. They also helped us set the pre-setting of all the necessary furniture required to conduct the camp. The objectives of the camp were to raise the public awareness to prevent the heart disease and provide cardiac care for the people living in the remote areas far away from the access to the modern healthcare facilities. All the participants/team of the camp was co-cordially welcomed by the local organizers and the people. The required logistics for the camp were managed by the team of Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center.

The registration desk was responsible to register all the patients and issuing the prescription paper to them. After the registration, the patients got their blood pressure checked and recorded by the medical volunteers. The patients have then referred to the doctors accordingly. Meanwhile, the patients were also tested for the blood sugar test as referred by the doctors. There were volunteers to maintain the queue and facilitate the patients waiting for the consultation.

Before the felicitation, the camp was immediately followed by the PT/ INR machine donation to the medical representatives from the Rotary Club of Baglung. The medical representatives were supremely trained to use the PT/ INR machine. The trust with the support from Sewa Samaj jointly donated the PT/ INR machine. During the camp, two of the patients who underwent open heart surgery got their prothrombin time (PT) checked, a test used to help detect and diagnose a bleeding disorder or excessive clotting disorder, and  the international normalized ratio (INR) calculated from a PT result which is used to monitor how well the blood-thinning medication (anticoagulant) warfarin is working to prevent blood clots. The overall planning to donate the machine and its monitoring was well-executed by Prof. Dr. Rabi Malla. The routine follow-up will be made by the team from Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center regarding the PT/ INR machine.

The findings of the camps conducted on 1^st May 2018 were:

1.       A total number of patients screened for any cardiac ailments were 600.
2.       197 patients were suspected of cardiac problem.
3.       130 patients were found to be hypertensive patients.
4.       74 patients were found with other ailments, such as children below 18 with pediatric cases,    elderly above 20 with gastritis, urology, ENT, orthopedic, thoracic, COPD, and bronchitis. 
5.       5 patients were referred for their tertiary treatment in Kathmandu for PPI, ASD, CAG, and VSD.

Analysis of the Echocardiography findings:

Among all the patients went through Echocardiography, 20.95% of patients had cardiac pathology. Majority of them were RHD/VHD, LVDD, Congenital Heart Disease, Coronary artery disease and DCM. And 79.05% of the patients were normal.

Diagnostic tests done: 

1.       143  patients underwent ECG test
2.       296 patients underwent ECHO test

Medicines provided: 

1.       500+ patients were provided medicines for free of cost.
2.       Two categories of medicines provided – Cardiac and Non-cardiac drugs.

Summary: 

Overall, we consider the camp was successful in terms of sound teamwork, perfect coordination, and smooth management. This made the cardiac screening and care accessible to the locals of Baglung, at their door-steps. We believe through this camp, we were also able to make the locals of Baglung aware of the health subsidies provided by the government and the trust as well. Lastly, the camp was followed by felicitation conducted by the Rotary Club of Baglung.

Acknowledgment: 

On this note, we would like to sincerely extend our gratitude to Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center, The Rotary Club of Baglung and Spectra Pharmaceuticals for the support. Also, we would like to thank The University of Colorado and Thoracic Surgery Foundation for the financial support provided to conduct this camp. The camp would not have been a success without a combined effort of technical support from MCVTC, local arrangements from Rotary Club of Baglung and distribution of the medicines for free of cost for hundreds of patients by the Spectra Pharmaceuticals. Also, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Sankalpa Nepal for distributing juice and biscuits for the patients during the camp.