According to statistics, Mysore tops the list of students suffering from heart problems with 98 cases followed by 45 cases recorded in Bangalore Urban, 39 in Haveri and Dakshina Kannada each, 38 cases in Davangere, 32 cases in Chamarajnagar, 26 cases in Shimoga, 24 cases in Hassan, 23 cases each in Gulbarga and Bagalkot and 21 cases Kodagu.

However,  the least number of severe heart problem cases was reported in Gadag and Mandya with two case each and Raichur and Dharwad with one each.

These were the findings of `Suvarna Arogya Chaitanya', a health scheme launched by the Education Department in association with the Health and Family Welfare Department, early this year.

Health card
In this programme, a medical examination was conducted for students from Class 1 to 10 under various categories, such as height, weight, heart, eye etc and is entered into a health card, which is provided to each student. The card will be used as a reference, when the student is promoted to next class.

Dist hospital
About 50 lakh students were covered in this programme. Of these, 43.41 lakh students were given treatment for various ailments including fever, cough and cold. If a student failed to respond for this treatment, then he/she would be referred to the district hospital. The students who received treatment in district hospitals are 39,734. Of which, 2,290 were found suffering from major ailments. About 2,139 students were referred to State-level treatment but were later reduced to 646.

Increase
"In these 2,139 students, we found that some cases like depression were also included. Such cases can be given treatment at the district hospitals itself. After identifying such cases, the number has been reduced to 646," according to the sources at the Health and Family Welfare Department. Further, the official said that there is a possibility that the number can increase as the department is still expecting complete report from a few districts.
"There are some instances, where the children have not provided complete address and we were forced to drop out such cases. However, we have asked the respective district officials to provide us the information," the official added.

Besides heart problem, the cases referred to State-level treatment include squint eyes and other eye problems, mental retardation, stammering, cleft, cancer and TB.

STATISTICS

Students selected under State level treatment
(district-wise)

District                          cases
Bangalore Urban          45
Bangalore Rural            13
Kolar                              06
Shimoga                        26
Chitradurga                   05
Davangere                     38
Tumkur                          15
Mysore                          98
Chamarajnagar             32
Dakshina Kannada       39
Udupi                            10
Mandya                         02
Kodagu                          21
Hassan                           24
Belgaum                        07
Karvar                            13
Dharwad                       01
Gadag                            02
Haveri                            39
Bagalkot                        23
Gulbarga                       23
Bidar                              07
Raichur                          01
Koppal                           06
Total                              496