The fourth model of the Chitra-TTK mechanical heart value is the result of an initiative taken by Padma Vibhushan Award winner and cardiologist M.V.S. Valiathan. He headed the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology for two decades (1974 to 1994).
In 1975, the demand for prosthetic heart valves was high in the institute. The development of porcine valves was not viable because Kerala had just one licensed unit which slaughtered less than 200 pigs a month. As the number of autopsies were fewer, the development of homograft value was even less viable. It was at this stage that Dr Valiathan, who worked for a brief while at the Madras IIT, initiated the development of a mechanical valve. Three models failed, but the fourth model was a success and since then more than 75,000 valves have been implanted in patients till 2012 and after that over 1,200 are being produced every month.
The values are being exported to other countries too.
The multidisciplinary team headed by Dr Valiathan developed a series of cardiac implants after that. With years of experience working in healthcare, Dr Valiathan says the budgetary allocation for health in the country is lower than in countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the BRICS nations. The current allocation to healthcare was 0.9 per cent and efforts were being made to increase it to 2 per cent. Provision of Universal Health Care funded directly by the taxpayer may be difficult to implement with the limited resources and huge population of the country.
He said the burden of providing tertiary care to the poor was much too huge. Even developed countries like the U.K. were finding it extremely difficult.
So a system that had elements of general insurance where the beneficiary pays an affordable amount of premium and social insurance where the employer, like the State or the Central government, pays the premium should be developed. Steps should be taken to reduce the cost of health care, he said.
The government instead of trying to be a healthcare “provider” should be a healthcare “purchaser”, he said and cited the example of Tamil Nadu government which brought down the prices of drugs by centralising purchases and effectively distributing them to all centres.
The government instead of trying to be a healthcare provider should be a healthcare purchaser
Dr. M.V.S. Valiathan
Cardiologist
