When a 40-year-old man arrived at a sub-divisional hospital in Punjab with chest pain at 4:40 am, the odds were stacked against him. A few years ago, he would likely have lost precious time travelling to a tertiary centre for treatment; instead, he received a clot-busting injection within minutes, thanks to a statewide programme that is redefining emergency cardiac care in the state.

For millions of heart patients in India, distance to healthcare centres, lack of equipment and specialists, and high costs of treatment contribute to long delays and cause preventable deaths