National CPR Mission: Govt Launches Country-Wide CPR Awareness Drive to Boost Bystander Response | Global TV
By Dr. Srinivas Ramaka, Mentor & Member of the Forum of Chief Editors, Global TV +91 8074 291 826
NEW DELHI, October 10, 2025 In a significant public health move, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is set to roll out a first-of-its-kind, nationwide Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Awareness Week from October 13 to 17, 2025. The initiative aims to dramatically increase the alarmingly low rates of bystander intervention during sudden cardiac arrests across India.
The campaign, championed by Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava (IAS), underscores that immediate CPR can be the difference between life and death. In an official communication to all states and Union Territories, the Ministry revealed that the bystander CPR rate in India languishes between a mere 1.3% and 9.8%, a stark contrast to nearly 50% in high-income nations.
“Every minute of delay decreases survival chances by about 10%. Immediate bystander CPR can increase survival by two to three times,” the Ministry’s letter stated, highlighting the critical need for public readiness. It pointed out that without CPR, brain damage can begin within minutes.
The week-long program will focus on promoting “Compression-Only CPR,” a simplified, hands-only technique designed to be easily learned and administered by the general public, even without formal medical training.
A Week of Action and Training
The Awareness Week is designed as a massive, multi-pronged campaign involving both the health sector and the general public. Key activities include:
A nationwide virtual pledge for all health facilities, from primary health centers to tertiary hospitals.
A pan-India panel discussion on ‘CPR techniques and the role of bystanders’.
Large-scale capacity-building drives with physical demonstrations of CPR, to be conducted by medical, nursing colleges, and the Indian Red Cross Society.
Awareness competitions like poster-making and quizzes for students and communities.
Utilization of online video tutorials and guides for standardized training.
The government has urged all participating organizations to share their activities on social media using the hashtag #CPR4Life2025 to create a unified national conversation.
A Community-Driven Lifeline
The initiative explicitly targets non-health professionals, students, and community volunteers, recognizing that in a cardiac emergency, the first responder is often a layperson. States have been directed to appoint nodal officers to coordinate the drive and report back on participation and impact.
“This is a crucial step towards building community resilience,” said a senior health official. “Empowering the common citizen with a basic life-saving skill can create a massive force of first responders, ultimately saving thousands of lives.”
With this ambitious program, the Indian government aims to transform public behaviour and build a nation better prepared to act in a medical crisis.
