HYDERABAD: Fifty per cent of heart attack victims the world over will be Indians by 2012, if precautionary measures are not taken, according to the World Health Organisation.

Doctors fear that heart disease is reaching epidemic proportions among Indians, including youth whose risk of a heart attack is 12-15 times higher than other races.

There are 30 million Indians with heart disease, which is the most common cause of death. About 2.4 million people die annually of cardio-vascular diseases (CAD).

Apollo Hospitals, pioneer of modern day cardiac care in the country, has taken the initiative to lead the country in its fight against heart diseases.

It has decided to launch a three-year intensive national heart campaign on September 24, World Heart Day, to alert and educate people on the importance of prevention and early detection of heart disease.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Apollo Hospitals chairman Pratap C. Reddy, disclosed that a partnership was being forged with John Hopkins Medicine International for research into what he called "why is the heart ticking differently among Indians" as opposed to, say Caucasians.

Rs. 6 cr. for research

The reason clearly lay beyond high incidence of diabetes, low level of good cholesterol and high levels of triglycerides.

He announced that Apollo would commit Rs. 6 crores for the path-breaking research to identify the `mischief maker' - the gene responsible for high CAD among Indians and, if possible, on how to change the DNA synthesis.

A protocol for the research was being prepared in which the sample would be drawn from both urban and rural areas.

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