On 29 September the World Heart Day is celebrated. The date is an initiative of the World Heart Federation to raise awareness on cardiovascular diseases. Under the theme “Power Your Life”, the 2016 celebration is intended to alert the population about what they can do to improve their heart health and prevent cardiovascular diseases (CVD).
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, leading to 17 million deaths annually (31% of total). It is estimated that in 2030, more than 23 million deaths will be caused by CVD, most of them in low and middle income countries. In view of the alarming situation, the World Health Organization adopted a goal to reduce 25% of deaths from NCDs by 2025. Many CVD can be prevented by adopting healthy lifestyle habits such as avoiding alcohol and tobacco products, practicing physical activities and adopting healthy nutrition.
If preventive measures are not taken, the premature deaths will continue to increase, in view of aging populations and increased urbanization, leading to an epidemic of cardiovascular patients. This represents an overall cost of US$ 860 billion in medical care and absence from work.
Scientific and Technical Literature
BIREME/PAHO/WHO provides documents from the Virtual Health Library (VHL) on the topics of the World Heart Day 2016.
Links of interest
Federación Española del Corazón (in Spanish)
PAHO/WHO homepage on CVD
WHO homepage on CVD
Information, infographics and epidemiological data on the main CVD (in Spanish)
