Health minister Balbir Singh launches Punjab STEMI project to cut fatalities linked to heart attack

To make maximum use of Golden Hour to save precious lives from heart failure, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday launched the Punjab STEMI project, which empowers the Government Secondary Health Facilities to quickly intervene and give thrombolysis treatment by administering a clot buster drug Tenecteplase to save patient life in case of heart-attack. The project has been named Mission AMRIT (Acute Myocardial Revascularization In Time).

Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh, while launching the project here, said that the Tenecteplase injection, which costs between Rs 25000 to Rs 35000, is being administered free of cost under this project. This injection helps to dissolve blood clots in the heart, he added.

“CM Bhagwant Singh Mann led government has no dearth of funds to ensure world-class healthcare facilities in the state,” he said.

The project was launched across the state after the success of a pilot project, which was initially implemented in two districts— Ludhiana and Patiala— and extended to six more districts later. In the pilot stage, as many as 2833 patients were enrolled under the STEMI project, and at least 209 patients were given Thrombolysis by the health staff at Secondary health facilities.