Chennai: Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs) are among the most common types of birth defects. One out of 100 babies is born with CHD worldwide and nearly 40,000 infants in the US are born with CHD each year. In India, approximately 300,000 children are born with CHD each year and approximately 25% die before their first birthday. The absence of early screening and sophisticated pediatric care is causing over 250 child deaths every day in India.
Conventional stethoscopes used for screening have resulted in 28 percent false positives and 51 percent false negatives when used by non-specialists and health workers. While the Ultrasound Echocardiogram is a more accurate alternative, high equipment cost and low availability of trained medical professionals have limited their usage.
There is no practice of any preventive check-up for the heart in India, unless symptoms show up. This is true for adults or children, people living in citiesor villages. Most pediatric clinics are not equipped for cardiac tests even in urban areas, while in rural areas, the availability of pediatric clinics and pediatricians isvery low, almost nil in many towns.