Heart diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the world. Millions of people die of heart attacks due to coronary artery disease (CAD) and strokes (brain attacks) and still more millions get crippled by them. 

With her 1.4 billion plus population, India has the dubious distinction of nurturing the highest number of persons with CAD and that too affecting the younger groups of people. Fifty million Indians, many in the prime of their lives, get a heart attack every year of which five million die; some of them even before reaching the hospital or getting any treatment. The incidence is steadily rising and the World Health Organisation (WHO) fears that in coming decade, mortality in Indians due to cardiovascular diseases will become double, accounting for one-third of all deaths. It is rightly said that a ‘silent epidemic of malignant coronary artery disease’ is sweeping the country and it will overwhelm the community in more serious ways than the past epidemics of many communicable diseases. While there have been tremendous advances in the management of heart diseases by drugs, surgery and other interventions, the impact of those interventions on reducing the global burden of cardio-vascular diseases remains almost negligible. All these drugs and procedures are very expensive and not easily available or affordable to everyone. And the fact remains that even after these costly interventions, the life is not an easy one. There is as yet no cure for heart diseases and so, even those who can afford the treatment will also have a compromised life. A scar is always a scar and a repaired heart is never a match for a normal, healthy heart. Therefore the best alternative is to prevent the cardiovascular diseases and to halt and reverse the process in those who are already afflicted by the disease. Fortunately many of the cardio-vascular diseases are preventable by simple measures and lifestyle changes. But for any prevention strategy to be successful, it should be started early in life before much damage has been done and then continued as long as one lives. A community level consciousness or awareness is required so that appropriate measures can be taken at the individual, family, societal and national levels. That was the reason for starting the Heart Care Society in 1999 with the avowed objective of preventing heart diseases and promoting health through people involvement and people participation.