GKF launches on-site school screening for early detection of heart diseases

Srinagar, Aug 7: As a new initiative of Gauri Research Centre, a part of Gauri Kaul Foundation (GKF) an NGO working for augmenting the health of our population with a focus on heart health is launching a School Screening Program in 3 districts of South Kashmir.

These districts include Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam. “It is a part of our activity utilizing ‘IOCL Heart Clinic on Wheels’ which was dedicated to the GKF in April 2025 at village Hawal. Rajpora, Pulwama District.”

The vehicle is equipped with ECG and all the necessary blood tests with point of care reporting. In addition, we have a state of art portable echocardiography machine.

The school screening program envisages to diagnose rheumatic and congenital heart disease (birth defects) which could have been missed because of their asymptomatic nature. We are also including childhood obesity in this survey. If the growing incidence of obesity has to be curbed measures need to be started early. There are very few studies done in our country in the community. Only one internationally recognized study is from All India Institute of Medical Sciences which focuses only on Rheumatic heart disease.

The output from this study would identify children who need penicillin prophylaxis or corrections of diseased valves and birth defects wherever indicated at suitable Government centers with whom we will have a tie up, In order to make the numbers evaluated schools will be selected randomly so these represent all the parts of the three districts.

Dr Shazina Saeed, a senior Professor of Community Medicine, Amity Institute of Public Health University trained at University of Pittsburg has worked out the number of schools in these districts. It comes to evaluating 5000 school children both boys and girls. GRC is a CDSO recognized body under the Ministry of Health Govt of India to conduct human research with an ethics committee headed by Prof A H Zargar, former Director SKIMS. The study will be free of cost for the schools; due consent will be taken from the parents. To meet the expenses pertaining to this study Interventional Council Federation of India is generously funding it with no burden on Govt of Jammu and Kashmir.