In Bangladesh, cardiovascular disease treatment is predominantly Dhaka centric and is prohibitively expensive. Patients have to either come to the capital or remain untreated, said experts.

Seventy-year-old Abul Khaer, a resident of Nabinagar in Brahmanbaria, felt chest pain at midnight recently. His family waited till morning before taking him to a private hospital in Homna upazila of Cumilla, a two-hour drive from their home.