6,000 students to be screened under Kashmir’s school heart health initiative

In a bid to strengthen preventive healthcare, a cardiologist in Kashmir is leading a school-based screening initiative to detect heart diseases among children early, particularly in underserved regions.

The ‘School Heart Screening Project’ , led by Prof. Upendra Koul under the Gauri Koul Foundation (GKF) , aims to screen over 6,000 students aged 5 to 15 across Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts. So far, around 600 students have been examined, with about 25 identified as high-risk and undergoing treatment.

Highlighting the need for such a programme, Koul said many children with cardiac conditions remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed due to limited access to specialists. “By taking screening directly to schools, we ensure early diagnosis and timely care,” he said.

The initiative operates alongside the ‘Heart Clinic On Wheels’ , bringing diagnostic tools such as portable echocardiography and ECG to remote areas. The programme also ensures structured referrals and long-term follow-up for identified cases.

Doctors involved say early detection is crucial, as paediatric heart conditions including congenital defects and rhythm disorders often go unnoticed but can become life-threatening if untreated. Symptoms like fatigue, breathlessness, fainting, and poor growth are frequently overlooked or misattributed.

A case from Kulgam highlights the issue: a 15-year-old girl treated for epilepsy for nearly a decade was correctly diagnosed through the screening with a congenital heart block and successfully treated with a pacemaker.

Experts note that while rheumatic heart disease appears to be declining due to improved living conditions and care, gaps in access to specialised healthcare persist.

The foundation plans to expand the project across all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir and explore the use of artificial intelligence to enhance diagnosis and monitoring in remote areas.