Getting to the heart of the problem

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: A National Cardiovascular Disease Database (NCVD) has been established and the information collected will be useful to prevent and control heart disease.
NCVD chairman Prof Dr Sim Kui Hian said patient information, such as demographic profiles, types of disease and treatments will be kept confidential. However, the database is not meant to be a medical record.
“The online database was initiated by the National Heart Association of Malaysia and it should give a clearer picture of what the situation is nationwide,” he said when launching the database at the association's 10th Annual Scientific Meeting yesterday.
“It will also allow doctors to record the treatment given to their patients and compare that with (treatments given in) the rest of the country,” he said.
“Right now, the only database we have on cardio disease is the Health Ministry's but, because it is heavily biased towards government hospitals, the information is not sufficient.”
Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer in Malaysia and worldwide, accounting for 16.7 million deaths per year around the globe.
“For now, we want to focus only on Acute Coronary Syndrome, or more commonly known as heart attack, before we start looking into other areas of cardio diseases. It is impossible to register so many areas all at once,” he added.
In January and February this year, Prof Sim ran a pilot test with six hospitals and got 600 patients to register.
“We want all parties including private practitioners, universities and the armed forces to be involved,” Prof Sim said.
Medical practitioners who want to register can contact the NCVD at the Clinical Research Centre in Kuala Lumpur Hospital at 03-2692 4249 or 03-2698 0310, or go to www.acrm.org.my/ncvd