It Is Time All Our Hearts Beat As One For World Heart Day 2024!

These are some very well known cases, but what about the thousands of individuals who have met the same fate, at a very young age? Did you also know that heart disease is the number one killer worldwide? Many millions die of heart attacks or cardiovascular disease, with India having a very high percentage- almost 4.7%, and steadily climbing with every passing year. It is time we understand why this is a mostly preventable condition and learn of some good health measures on the way.

The Significance of World Heart Day

World Heart Day is being celebrated on 29 September this year, and the theme is ‘Teaching and Empowering everyone to take heart health into their own hands’. This is a very effective way- you teach the general masses how to take care of their health, and in the long run, the healthcare system can afford to take care of really affected individuals. This is important because treatment can drain a family of precious monetary resources, even if insurance cover is available. This year, the World Heart Federation (WHF) has asked everyone to sign an online petition that will then hopefully be used by health ministries and various governments to frame healthcare laws accordingly, while placing a large emphasis on heart disease and its prevention.

This year, World Heart Federation has partnered with two massive multinational pharmaceutical giants – the Lilly Alliance and Boehringer Ingelheim. Over the years, they have partnered with multiple organisations for the singular purpose of improving cardiovascular health on a global scale. This they do by bringing together different people from various walks of life- researchers, individuals and caretakers as part of many patient organisations under one umbrella for better reach. Some of the causes they actively seek to work on include cholesterol, COVID-19, diabetes,hypertension, heart failure, obesity, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) or tobacco consumption respectively and coming up with preventive measures for them all. Though men succumb to cardiac disease more often than women, health policies still need to keep women in mind.

Tools To Present Information For WHD In An Effective Way

All this information is presented in the form of information toolkits and patient advocacy for better policy making. The World Congress of Cardiology, World Heart Summit, World Congress on RHD, and Heart Cafe are all different events organised for the same purpose. We can all play an active role by campaigning and teaching our kids about the importance of an active lifestyle, because studies do matter, but good health tops everything. To make it more fun and engaging, they have begun to use social media in a good way, and have partnered with governments to light certain very well known monuments red in colour- for World Heart Day. One of the contests we especially like is this- drawing a heart shaped route or path to walk, bike or run on, and then adding it to their so called ‘challenge wall’. They also plan to use influencers and their huge reach on social media.

What is the Outlook for India?

Dementia cases increase every year, and that is due to a variety of causes- genetics, lifestyle choices, idiopathic origins etc. The main concern is that people living in the rural areas don’t get access to medical care and screening needed to slow the progress of the disease. The so-called ‘caregiver burden’ is very high, and the money needed to tend to affected family members can be very astronomical for a low income family. Help and awareness needs to be provided by locally present doctors or nurses. In India, since 2020, dementia was included under the District Mental Health Programme, with a budget being allocated for the same. The state of Kerala has laid some great foundation – by investing in diagnosis, care centres and in promoting general awareness.

Conclusion

The WHF has been working tirelessly on some causes and comorbidities that increase the chances of suffering from heart disease. Since we have mentioned it is preventable, some measures we can all follow include- eating healthy, not eating processed and sweet foodstuffs, getting good amounts of physical activity, sleeping well and learning how to manage stress in proper ways and getting regular health assessments annually. Good health can never be bought and needs to be saved and taken care of properly, so we can enjoy geat quality of life till the very end.