An MLA suddenly collapsed while holding a meeting at Kadaba, a small town in Dakshina Kannada, during the lockdown last month. Immediately an ECG test was done at the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadi Kendra in the town. As the report suggested medical emergency he was rushed to a Mangaluru hospital within no time.
Ramesh, who manages the centre, had uploaded the report to a WhatsApp group called ‘Kayakalpa’ created by the Cardiology at Doorstep (CAD) Foundation, floated by a group of doctors. Padmanabha Kamath, the chief admin of the group and also Professor and Head of the Department of Cardiology, Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Mangaluru, who read the report suggested immediate medical evacuation of the MLA.
The CAD Foundation had donated the ECG machine to the centre about a year ago. The centre has been doing the ECG test free of cost to many people since then. “It has been immensely helping for people in small places to know their health condition,” Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu .
The foundation has donated the machines to 10 Jan Aushadi Kendras in the coastal and Malnad belt where free ECG tests are being done since at leastsix months. The pharmacists managing those centres have been networked in the ‘Kayakalpa’ group which has two cardiologists. If those who underwent the test agreed, the reports are uploaded and the cardiologists read them and gave their opinion. Those who need further consultation or treatment are free to approach any doctor of their choice anywhere.
Dr. Kamath, who is also the founder of the CAD Foundation, told The Hindu that the other nine machines have been given to the centres in Mundgod, Sirsi, Bhatkal, Sringeri, Siddapura in Udupi district, Kundapura, Belman, Udupi and Mangaluru.
The doctor said that the objective of donating the machines to the centres in semi-urban and rural areas is to strengthen the foundation’s crusade against coronary artery disease, for early diagnosis and prevention, especially among economically weaker sections. With no specialists available in many such places ‘Kayakalpa’ became a platform for interaction among pharmacists, patients and doctors.
Like Vincent D’Souza who managed a centre at Naguri in Mangaluru, some even offered free blood pressure and sugar level tests at such centres. An ECG test outside cost at least ₹250, Mr. D’Souza said.
