New Delhi: President A P J Abdul Kalam on December 13 asked the medical community to take up research work in order to minimise the cost of medical treatment, especially related to heart ailments, in view of its increasing incidence in the country.

"The doctors should work in the direction of taking adequate medical care of people who need it but cannot afford," Kalam said inaugurating an `Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery' at the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in New Delhi.

Doctors have a big responsibility in India considering the large population and need for health care, Kalam said, adding high expertise, equipment and data should be used to find out ways to lower the treatment cost.

Stressing upon the need to have an integrated approach towards treatment with high technology and humane elements, he said heart's health was related to the overall state of the body, mind and society.

If social interaction produces a negative result, mind of the person concerned become involved and his heart becomes heavy, contributing to health problems, Kalam said.

He said nearly 10 per cent of Indians need heart-related medical care even as lifestyle changes and sedentary way of life was resulting in young people developing cardiac problems.

"Thus, there should be a stress on preventive cardiology in view of the fact that cardiac care is expensive," Kalam said, adding developments in the field of genetics should be used to predict disease in individuals.

PTI