Centre not making treatments affordable to common man, says Dr KM Cherian

Chennai: In the presence of a Nobel Laureate, one of the famous cardiologists in the country and chairman of Frontier Lifeline Hospital Dr K.M. Cherian slammed the central government agencies for blocking the development of new instruments that would make the health treatment affordable to common man.

“The development and testing of a cardiac assist device to prevent heart failure and a heart valve from shark skin and mechanical artificial heart are yet to see the next of development due to the lack of support from central government agencies like CSIR,” the senior cardiologist said.

Prime Minister of India and Prime Minister of Australia have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2015 to develop the cardiac assist device.

There is a proposal to develop a bioprosthetic heart valve from shark skin. “After US and Brazil, India would have been the third country to manufacture the heart valve that is cost-effective and durable compared to the available valves in the market,” he said.

Shark skin can withstand a lot of pressure and found most durable to the human body.

“The present cost of the valve is Rs 1.25 lakh and we can make it for Rs 30,000. Apart from the cost, it would create so many jobs in villages,” he noted.

They also entered into an agreement with a Russian agency to make a mechanical artificial heart. As per the agreement, they would transfer the technology and train our people.

“Today a mechanical heart costs Rs 98.2 lakh. If we do it in our medical village it would cost only Rs 25 lakh,” Dr Cherian said.

This project also has not taken off as the central agencies allegedly did not approve the technology transfer. During her speech, Nobel Laureate and Professor Ada E. Yonath recalled her association with Indian scientists.