APCNA. President s Message. July 2009

Transcription

1 Association of Pakistani-Descent Cardiologists of North America APCNA Association of Pakistani-Descent Cardiologists of North America Newsletter; Volume 4, Number 2 PRESIDENT Dr. Asif Rehman, MD, FACC PRESIDENT-ELECT: Syed Wamique Yusuf, MD, FACC IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Dr. Immad Sadiq, MD, FACC GENERAL SECRETARY: Nadeem Afridi, MD, FACC TREASURER: Arshad Rehan, MD, FACC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Rizwan A. Karatela, MD, FACC DIRECTOR: Liaison External Organizations.: Wajid Baig, MD, FACC BOARD OF TRUSTEE: Chairman: Shahbudin Rahimtoola, MD, MACC Members: Sultan S. Ahmed, MD, FRCP, SQA Javed Suleman, MD, FACC Wajid Baig, MD, FACC Naeem Khan, MD, FACC ADVISORS: Dr. Jamil Tajik Dr. Bunyad Haider COMMITTEES: Chair CME Asad Qamar, MD, FACC Chair Resource Development Naeem Khan, MD Chair Membership Syed Wamique Yusuf Chair Publication Salman Arian, MD Chair Advocacy Committee Mohammed Haseeb Chair Fellowship Training Rizwan Khalid - Atlanta, GA President s Message Dear APCNA member, It is my honor to assume the responsibilityto be the president of this great organization. Over the last five years APCNA has been a symbol of teamwork and true dedication. We are indeed fortunate to have group of verydedicated and hard working people to further the mission of APCNA. The selfless work by theactive members is clearly reflected in the number ofprojects APCNA has been able to accomplish.in the coming months and years we will build onthe foundation on which APCNA is now standing.our most important objective is to take our messageto each and every Pakistani cardiologist residing in North America. We are confident that, once people know what kind of projects and work APCNA has been involved with, they will be happy to join us as members. We are in the process of updating our website with more information on the website for the members. We will promote more easier networking with ourcolleagues in Pakistan on a regular basis. We are working on the APCNA winter meeting for December 2009 to be held in Pakistan. We encourage our members to plan on attending the winter meeting this year. The details of the meeting will be available very soon on the APCNA web-site. In the end, I would like to thank all the members, the executive council and the board of trustees for their support and guidance throughout the year and looking forward to having a very productive year ahead! Asif Rehman, MD, FACC, President APCNA 2009 July 2009 APCNA

2 APCNA at ACC 2009 APCNA at ACC 2009 March 29, 2009, The Keynote Address by Dr. Hildner It has been our tradition to invite eminent scholar in the field of Cardiovascular medicine to deliver key note address at our annual meetings. It is indeed our honour to have Dr. Hildner as the key note speaker at the our annual meeting this year at the ACC convention. Dr. Hildner was the Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida from 1974 until He also served as Associate Chief of the Division of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center from 1974 until He has been Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, Florida, since Currently, in addition to serving as the Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory of the Central Florida Heart Center, he is an Interventional Cardiologist with the Ocala Heart Institute in Ocala, Florida. Dr. Hildner has been the Founding Editor CATHETERIZATION AND CARDIO- VASCULAR DIAGNOSIS. In the past, he has been a Chairman of the Board of Regents of the American College of Chest Physicians, a Trustee and President for the Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions. APCNA BOT Appointment Naeem Khan, MD FACC. During APCNA s annual meeting at the ACC 2009, Dr. Khan was appointed as member of Board of Trustee APCNA replacing Dr. Zia Ahmed who completed his term of member BOT APCNA in We are thankful fro Dr. Ahmed for his services to APCNA and fortunate that Dr. Khan will joining BOT as its members. APCNA held its sixth annual meeting at the ACC on March 29, 2009 in Orlando. We are pleased to the ever increasing attendance at the APCNA meetings. Each year we see an increase in our membership and the attendance at all the APCNA events. APCNA has been involved in many important projects and its work has been highlighted in various meetings and in the Newsletters. The highlights and summary of this meeting is presented. The key note address was delivered by Dr. Hildner. Dr. Immad Sadiq, President APCNA on behalf of APCNA membership presented Dr. Hildner a plaque in recognition of his services to cardiology teaching. Dr. Hildner s lecture was very interesting and informational. He shared with us some of the memorable pictures related to the people behind the history of cardiac catheterization and evolution of interventional cardiology. At the end of the lecture he was presented an Award of Excellence in Cardiovascular Teaching by the President of APCNA, Dr Immad Sadiq. APCNA also presented a souvenir from Pakistan to the Key note speaker of the program as a token of appreciation. Dr. Immad Sadiq, President APCNA: Dr. Sadiq gave an overview of APCNA s activities in He also urged everyone to become a member of APCNA. APCNA Project Updates: The APCNA Pacemaker Bank project s updates were presented by Dr. Wajid Baig. The APCNA BLS training project s updates were presented by Dr. Rizwan Karatela. The updates on the APCNA s ongoing efforts in Pakistan was presented by Dr. Javed Suleman. APCNA s New Cabinet At the meeting new cabinet of APCNA took office. The new office bearers of APCNA are: Dr. Asif Rehman from NY - President 2009, Dr. Syed Wamique Yusuf from TX - President Elect, Dr. Nadeem Afridi from MA - General Secretary and Dr. Arshad Rehan - Treasurer of APCNA.

3 APCNA s Pacemaker Bank APCNA NCD Project APCNA s Pacemaker Bank Update: The APCNA-Rotary Pacemaker Bank continues to provide life saving devices to the deserving patients in Pakistan. The Bank is managed by Heartbeat International-Pakistan (HBI-Pakistan). We are very fortunate to have a dedicated group of Rotarians who have worked hard to make this a reality. These colleagues are supported with a professional group of social services personnel from Tabba Heart Institute, Karachi: who screen the recipients. The screening process is very extensive and includes precise documentation of the financial and social circumstances of the patient and his/her family. This information is electronically submitted to HBI in Tampa. Each recipient has o qualify for the device based on a strict criteria. This ensures the fact that only the deserving patients get the devices. As of the last report; so far 69 devices have been implanted. These include Single chamber, Dual chamber Pacers and ICD s. The demand continues to outpace the need of pacemakers in Pakistan. We have had extensive discussions with Dr. Maniscalco ; Mr. Wil Mick and Mr. Ashraf Hasnain from HBI. They have been very supportive of the Pacemaker Bank in Pakistan since inception. Dr.Maniscalco attended our Annual Meeting in Orlando and was able to discuss the situation first hand with our colleagues from Pakistan. Dr. Bashir Hanif; one of the Directors of HBI-Pakistan and an implanting physician updated him on the dire need of devices in Pakistan. Recently there was an acute shortage of Leads and Introducers in Karachi. We are thankful to Dr. Javed Suleman who was able to obtain 16 leads from St. Jude s and had them personally delivered to Dr. Zahid Jamal in Karachi. Colleagues; APCNA is committed to expanding the concept of the Pacemaker Bank to other cities in Pakistan. We have Physicians and Rotarians ready to take on this task in Peshawar/Islamabad and Lahore. We are in the process of exploring all options on how to make this a reality. Until such time as the Pacemaker Bank is up and going in other cities; we request our members to use their personal contacts and obtain devices for deserving patients in those cities. You all have been doing this for many years and we urge you to continue this work. Once again APCNA would like to thank all those who have made this project a success. We are especially indebted to Rotarians Ovais Kohari, Wahab Lakhani, Faiz Kidwai ; Drs.Azam Shafqat, Zahid Jamal and Bashir Hanif. Our special thanks to Ms. Mariyam Tabba CEO oftabba Heart Institute, Karachi who has been instrumental in making this project a success. Wajid Baig MD FACC Chairman;APCNA-Rotary Club Pacemaker Bank Project. Non Communicable Diseases (NCD): These are a set of diseases that include Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular, Type II Diabetes, Chronic Respiratory Disease, and Certain Cancers. Common to all these diseases are three risk factors such as improper diet, lack of exercise and smoking. NCD has over taken infectious diseases as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the world (47% of global disease burden). This epidemic, which was considered to be common in the affluent countries, is impacting the developing countries far more. This is explained by a lack of infrastructure, man power and resources to tackle end of the disease complications such heart attacks and strokes. In addition, poor governmental polices in tobacco control, lack of healthy environments for exercise and poor dietary controls has lead to an epidemic of obesity (16%), hypertension (23%), diabetes (12%) and tobacco addiction (41%) of our adult population in Pakistan. Socio-economic consequences of NCD s are even more devastating. The loss of income in 2005 was 1.2 billion dollars and estimated losses by 2015 will be 6.8 billion dollars. Annual income loss per year from disability is 3.5 billion dollars. Projected economic gains by 2% reduction in NCD is between 3.5 billion dollars. Such savings may be achieved by strategically approaching the problem. A major shift in thinking has to happen with the policy makers of our country. Approaching medical care through prevention rather than treatment has to happen such that trainees would be spending 60% of there time learning preventative measures and 40% of the time learning about diagnosing and treating diseases With the participation of Federal Government, International Organizations (WHO, CDC, Harvard Partners International), local organizations and experts, APCNA has been able to forge alliances to set up the first NCD commission in Pakistan. The legal work for the commission is in the process of being debated in cabinet. The model of prevention will be based on well known principals of research, evidence, sustainability, culturally viable, cost effective, and quality driven. APCNA understands that this will take a considerable time to develop. Program development, implementation, resources generation, research base development, training, human resource development for NCD prevention are some of the challenges that need to be scaled. Working with several government ministries (inter-sectoral), provincial government, health ministries will be required. Fortunately, several international organization, such as WHO is already working with the government to guide with the process. We are hoping that we will be able to meet the deadline set by WHO for a comprehensive country plan for Pakistan for NCD prevention by Nadeem Afridi, MD FACC Chairman; APCNA- NCD Project.

4 APCNA at ACC 2009 Orlando, March 2009 Dr. Hildner, delivering his Key Note speech at the APCNA at ACC 2009 in Orlando, March 2009 APCNA President Dr. Immad Sadiq presenting a plaque to Dr. Hildner Dr. Mujeeb Jan and Dr. Mushabbar Syed at the APCNA at ACC 2009 in Orlando 2009 D.r Immad Sadiq, Dr? and Dr. Dr. Nadeem Afridi presenting Treasurer s Report Dr. Nasir Rehmetullah, host in Orlando At the APCNA at ACC 2009, out going president Dr. Immad Sadiq is ceremoneously handing over the batton to the next president APCNA D.r Asif Rehman APCNA Officers 2009; L-R, Nadeem Afridi, General Secretary, Asif Rehman, President, Syed Wamique Yusuf, President Elect.

5 APCNA Members with Guests from Pakistan APCNA at the ACC 2009, March 2009, Orlando Florida Dr. Pervez Alvi and Dr Orlando Florida Delegate from Pakistan at the ACC with APCNA members Orlando Florida

6 APCNA Promote Heart Healthy Lifestyle APCNA Past 6 Years The Heart Healthy Year for APPNA APCNA welcomes the initiative taken by the current president of APPNA to give a theme to APPNA Summer Convention in San Francisco. There is no better way to channelized enormous potential we as Pakistani Physician have in order to bring about positive changes in our lives and in the lives of people around us. We as Pakistani American must adopt the healthy life style to promote cardiovascular well being specially because we people from our subcontinent have unique susceptibility to cardiovascular event at an early stage than Americans. Cessation of smoking, lowering our cholesterol, active exercise and weight reduction are some of the most important proven life style modifications that have resulted in dramatic improvement in morbidity and mortality from CV events. APCNA has been actively involved in creating a network of Pakistani Cardiologists who have come together over the years and joined with the colleagues in Pakistan at the various institutions in Pakistan both in Academic and private section to promote primary prevention in cardiovascular diseases. This year s theme of APPNA Meeting is very timely and will be useful for awareness of the growing problem of CV diseases among the Pakistani American communities. We plan to take full advantage of the meeting and are happy to collaborate with APPNA to promote healthy lifestyle changes. For this we are planning to set up APCNA booth where APCNA members will be available to discuss in detail how one can lower the risk of CV events. We encourage physicians and their family members to stop-by APCNA booth at the meeting. Series of APCNA/APPNA Educational Handout will on the display and for the distribution for the attendees at the APPNA convention. These Educational Handout will include; 1. Watching Your Weight, 2. Counting Your Calories, 3. Lowering Your Lipids. I hope this will serve as an important tool in public awareness of the important of lifestyle modification for better cardiovascular health among Pakistani physicians and their families. Cardiology Lectures: More than 200 didactic lectures in the institutions across Pakistan. Interventional Cardiology: >50 workshops, > 200 PTCA cases with local faculty. Echo and TEE workshops: Annual workshops > 100 cases and lectures. Cardiology Supplies: More than 2 million dollars worth of donations for patients. First Pacemaker Bank in Pakistan: For hundreds of patients in Pakistan. First Peripheral Vascular Disease Workshop: First workshop in PVOD in NWFP. Collaboration with Societies: Five annual winter cardiology conferences in Pakistan. Interventions for the Deserving Patients: >300 cases performed by APCNA members. APCNA in AHA Heart Walk: Participation of youth in AHA Heart Walk First IVUS use in NWFP: Transfer of expertise, IVUS use, Lady Reading, Peshawar. Nuclear Cardiology Workshop: Transfer of expertise, Nuclear cardiology workshops. CCU teaching rounds: Annual sessions at various medical colleges in Pakistan. BLS training for healthcare workers: Support of BLS training in Pakistan. For more information visit