Nicholas
Kisara, a heart attack survivor and author, is attended to by Dr Vinesh Vaghela at the Coast Cardiac Centre at Pandya
Memorial Hospital, Mombasa, on Monday, September 22, 2025.The younger generation in Kenya is increasingly suffering from heart attacks, with experts raising concern that lifestyle changes, stress and non-communicable diseases are fuelling an unprecedented rise in cases.
Dr Vinesh Vaghela, a consulting cardiologist at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, said patients as young as 30 years old are being admitted across the country, a trend he describes as alarming.
“Previously, we rarely used to see heart attack or myocardial infarction in the indigenous Kenyan population and during my more than 20 years of training, it would be very rare [to find] a patient with heart attack, but today our hospitals are quite busy with this condition and we ask ourselves what is causing that to happen,” Vaghela said.
Vaghela, who practices at the Coast Cardiac Centre located within Pandya Memorial Hospital part-time, pointed to stress, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and lifestyle changes as key risk factors.
He emphasised the importance of routine check-ups to avoid the devastating consequences of heart disease.
With the country’s shortage of specialists, the burden is becoming unmanageable, the cardiologist added.
“We are a total of five cardiologists in Mombasa against a population of over one million people, we are too few and we cannot cope with this population and we need many more cardiologists because the disease burden is growing,” he said.
He added that Mombasa has only two cath labs (cardiac catheterisation laboratory—where minimally invasive heart procedures are performed); one at the CGTRH and another at the Aga Khan hospital.
Among the many battling the condition is Nicholas Kisara, a survivor who suffered a heart attack.
Kisara recalled the terrifying moment that nearly claimed his life.
“I was only 32 years old and that evening, I had rested in bed but I experienced some sharp chest pains abruptly disrupting my sleep. I was rushed to hospital by my wife and luckily the doctors diagnosed me right and that is what increased my survival chances,” Kisara said.
Doctors at Pandya Hospital conducted an electrocardiogram (ECG) test, which revealed one of his arteries was blocked, straining blood and oxygen supply to the heart, a condition that could have led to death within minutes.
Six years after the procedure, Kisara has turned his survival into advocacy.
Through his book, ‘Heart of resilience and transformation’, he shares his journey and educates Kenyans on the importance of medical check-ups.
“The condition is a very expensive affair and through my book, I call on Kenyans to always conduct regular medical checkups and I sell hope since prevention is better than cure because this disease is very costly when it comes to treatment and management and it runs into millions of shillings,” he said.
Dr Vaghela, who handled Kisara’s case, explained how swift intervention saved his life.
“I performed an ECG on Nicholas and it confirmed it was a heart attack and he was started on all the relevant medication including being taken to the cath lab and we identified where exactly the problem was in the heart and it was a specific artery that was blocked and we managed to implant a stent,” he said.
A stent is a wire mesh tube that keeps an artery propped open to increase blood flow to the heart and relieve chest pain and we successfully managed to reverse his problem, he further explained.
He added that Kisara’s decision to go public with his experience was a breakthrough in awareness.
“Having talked to his family, friends and colleagues, he realised that there are many people who suffer heart disease but they are afraid to come out and he translated that into a book to inspire the masses. I am very happy that he has recognised me and the other cardiologist in the book and we support that,” Vaghela said.
Instant Analysis
Heart disease is no longer just an ailment of the elderly. Rising cases among Kenyans as young as 30 point to a worrying health crisis linked to lifestyle changes, stress and non-communicable diseases. Experts like Dr Vinesh Vaghela warn that the country is ill-prepared, with far too few cardiologists to handle the growing burden.
