35,000 doctors from across India pledged their support for the initiative to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (Glenmark), announced the launch of the next phase of ‘India First Heart First’ campaign on May 17, 2024. This initiative aims to address challenges posed by cardiovascular diseases (CVD) across India.
The campaign was initially launched on World Heart Day on September 29, 2023. where Sudarsan Pattnaik, artist, and Padma Shree recipient, created a sand sculpture of a human heart at Puri beach which reportedly drew attention from over 5 million viewers.
The campaign marked another milestone on World Hypertension Day 2024. Glenmark collaborated with the President’s Award winner, gemstone carver artist Prithviraj Kumawat to sculpt a monumental human heart from a single stone of Rose quartz, a stone associated with the heart chakra which promotes emotional balance. This unique sculpture, standing 8 feet tall and weighing 3.5 tons, was unveiled on May 17, 2024, and was attended by cardiologists from Delhi and Jaipur, including Dr Deepak Maheshwari, Dr J.S. Makkar, and Dr Manoj Kumar.
The event featured talks from the cardiologists Dr J S Hiremath, Dr A Sreenivas Kumar, Dr JPS Sawhney and Dr Dilip Kumar highlighting the importance of heart health. Kumawat spoke about his journey of creating the gemstone sculpture. Additionally, 35,000 doctors from across India sent in their pledges to support cardiovascular disease awareness. Their signed pledge cards were displayed at the base of the sculpture, reinforcing the collective commitment to this cause.
According to a recent study, CVDs account for 17.7 million deaths in India and are the leading cause of non-communicable disease related deaths annually. According to the World Health Organisation, India accounts for one-fifth of CVD deaths worldwide, especially among the younger population. The results of Global Burden of Disease study state an age-standardised CVD death rate of 272 per 100,000 population in India which is much higher than that of global average of 235.