THE Margao-based Dr Francisco Colaco has been the favourite of loving mothers and anxious paediatricians (child specialits) for the last 45 years. At 80 years plus, my dear friend Dr Francisco Colaco continues to be the gold standard for paediatric cardiac care not only in Goa but in India.
It was way back in 1980 that a young Dr Francisco Colaco set up his first echo-cardiography facility in Goa at his ancestral home in Margao, just across the familiar Holy Spirit Church in Margao. The echocardiogram is the primary medical test for evaluating the structure, functioning and blood flow of the heart. It is a variation of the ultrasound, except that the echocardiogram is designed to monitor the functioning of the heart exclusively.
The echocardiogram is a non-invasive diagnostic machine to monitor the heart. Dr Colaco set up his clinic with the latest heart equipment at a time when there were practically speaking no cardiac specialists in Goa. In the 1980s, Goa did not have any cardiologists. There were no angiograms done, let alone heart surgeries. For over three decades and more, Dr Francisco Colaco’s Echocardiography Unit was the most affordable and reliable testing facility available for checking out the heart of adults and children.
DR COLACO continues to remain the undisputed leader in paediatric care to this day, as Dr Mimi Silveira, who retired as Head of Department of Pediatrics at the Goa Medical College and Hospital, confirms. Dr Colaco is the last word for a host of paediatric cardiologists in Goa, and relied on his final diagnostic opinion when treatment was considered for a patient young or old.
IT IS difficult enough to deal with adults who have cardiac problems. Every time any Goan adult men or women feels pain in the chest they go rushing to their family doctor. Historically, postgraduates in medicine have rendered valuable first aid and stabilized the heart before the experts took over. Among the most respected medical specialists have been Dr Oscar Rebello, who has saved the lives of many cardiac patients. Dr Colaco is, however, unique as the pioneer of paediatric cardiology in Goa. He has the distinction of being a visiting professor at the prestigious John Hopkins Hospital in the United States. He continuously learns and updates himself with new knowledge and research on the human heart and upgrades his medical equipment, offering both his experience of years and skills along with it is using the latest in cardiology for the befit of Goans.
Many Indian including Goan doctors go abroad, to the USA, to study further super-specialities and then they take up an assignments in a hospital there in the countries of the West; but not Dr Francisco Colaco, he is one Goan who got unlimited opportunities to work abroad but he chose to stay in his own homeland to serve the people of Goa. It is quality one may find only in an the older school of thinking, country comes first.
What distinguishes Dr Colaco from other cardiologists is his devoted respect and love for his profession. Ask his patients and they will recount stories about his meticulous care not only for his patients and particularly their children, infants who are referred to him for his magical touch. I’ve had the privilege of watching Dr Colaco in action with his patients. His touch is very a gentle touch and he is an expert in alleviating the anxieties of his patients and their family members. He has remarkable achievements with children who stop crying listening to his soft conversation of comfort.
His clinic in Margao to this day witnesses a flood of patients and with and without appointment it is possible to see him. The good heart doctor speaks to everyone with total focus and through long experience he is something of a genius in putting his finger on what ails a child or an adult, regarding early signs a heart problem which must be attended to urgently.

In the treatment of the heart like as in every other major disease of today we are told it is early diagnosis which is the key to a full and faster recovery. Dr Colaco is a most loved consultant for not only problems of the heart which of course, will be in excellent hands if you entrust it to him. I may also point out that echo-cardiology is the most economical diagnostic methods to monitor and arrive at a decision of what ails the heart. Other cardiac procedures such as angiograms and angiographies are invasive procedures. An angiogram is primarily a procedure use to detect blockages in the arterial system, while an angiogram is the procedure which can simultaneously dilate arteries with stents to restore flow in a blocked artery. Where the blockages are far too severe, the option is cardiac surgery.
However, not all cardiac problems require angiography or surgery. Many cardiac problems can be sorted out with medication or a temporary or permanent pacemaker. A pacemaker is an ingenious device that is implanted within the chest area of the body to regulate the electric impulses and heart beat – temporarily until the heart settles down or permanently if necessary.
Contrary to the general impression most of us have, cardiac problems are common in children and even little babies. Many children have congenital problems like say a hole in their heart which needs to be attended to in time. We are aware the heart has two chambers, one for pumping blood to all parts of the body and the other for purifying the blood. When there is a hole in the heart, impure blood flows back and mixes with the pure oxygenated blood. This can cause serious problems but if detected early it can be rectified.
I recall that my first wife Bhanu was treated for such a heart condition. A small patch of teflon was put on the patch in her heart to prevent a back flow of impure blood. Indeed, pediatric specialists advise a cardiac check-up not only for adults but also for children regularly. If the heart of your baby misses a beat get an echocardiogram done promptly. On average, an echo-cardiogram costs between Rs1,000 and Rs2,000. In sharp contrast, the minimum cost of angiography, which probes for blockages in the arteries, can cost Rs40,000. The procedure to repair blockages is of course much more expensive.
But to come back to my dear friend Dr Francisco Colaco, he is not only a most respected echo-cardiologist, but perhaps most Goans down south Goa and his friends know that he has a passion for music and both listens to it and sings when the mood overtakes him or there is a request. He is a social activist committed to preserving the social, cultural, harmonious fabric of Goa. I remember he once confided in me how he wooed his wife Fernanda’s interest before marrying her, by serenading and singing with a guitar — at the women’s hostel where she was staying in Panaji.
In the days of old, Dr Colaco shared, young romantics like him would happily go somewhere with their guitars to sing love songs in Portuguese or some other language to express their longing for the women they were interested in. If the lady in question reciprocated the emotion of love, she would draw the curtains of the hostel room as a signal that she hears and is interested in a proposal.

I would like to say in fact, the whole Colaco family is passionate about music and have performed en famille in some clubs and well known resort hotels in Goa occasionally on special request. No, not for earning anything but for love of music. Our “singing dotor” as Dr Francisco Colaco is sometimes referred to, we remember, at one time, used to be at the Pentagon Restaurant at Majorda to sing with the band for rest and recreation and pure love for singing. He is equally at home singing in Portuguese and Konkani even at the age of 80 years plus, plus.
Dr Colaco’s heart is very young. I believe in recent years he is learning to sing some of the songs of Hindi cinema to the appreciation of many Indian tourists who visit Raj’s very famous Pentagon Restaurant. In Dr Colaco we have a most interesting combination of a man of medicine as well as a man of music. Truly, a man of Renaissance in the European mode movement. It may be his love for music which makes him a better cardiologist whose heart beats always for Goa. I know my dear generous friend as a man of strong secular values, who loves the Goan way of life and loving – this means respecting all religions and cultures. He stands up strongly in defence of freedom of speech and expression and is both eloquent as a speaker and a writer.
Last but not least of all, I recall Dr Francisco Colaco readily agreeing to be a director of the “Goan Observer” when we first started Goa’s first independent political weekly in October 2003. This despite the fact that the “Goan Observer” is totally opposed to a Hindutva agenda and a saffron takeover of Goa. Alas, in one instance, Dr Colaco’s clinic which was attached to a small hospital, was raided by the Food & Drug administration at the instance of the then chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar.
Ups and downs I will stand up for Dr Francisco Colaco as an outstanding Goan, a man of excellence in the medical speciality of his profession, and as loving husband, father, and a dear valued friend of years. Above all he is a kind, considerate human being who loves his home land in Goa. He is a niz Goenkar first and last and a much loved and respected doctor and cardiologist with a heart of pure 24 carat gold and we celebrate his golden jubilee in the art of practicing cardiology and paediatric cardiology.