ISLAMABAD, Sep 28 (APP): The Speakers on the occasion of a symposium on World Heart Day Thursday underscored that around 3 out of 10 deaths in Pakistan were contributed by Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) that demanded the masses to take good care of their health and eating habits to avoid serious heart diseases.
World Heart Day is celebrated every year on 29th September and the global cardiovascular health community tries to raise awareness about heart disease and its preventive measures. Cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other conditions, a news release said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most important behavioral risk factors of heart disease are unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and harmful use of alcohol.
“Life is short, but our negligence can make it even shorter”, said Mukhtar Ahmad Ali whose organization Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) is working in Pakistan, in partnership with Global Health Advocacy incubator on eliminating trans fats from the food supply to prevent cardiovascular diseases.
“The heart is the vital organ of the human body, and if it is neglected our life and life is compromised and the World Heart Day is a wake-up call for us to take care of our heart before it is too late”, he said.
Citing statistics he said, “Globally, cardio-vascular ailments cause 17.9 million deaths every year. In Pakistan, according to the WHO (2016)1 estimates, around 29 percent of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) attributable deaths in Pakistan were due to heart-related disorders, and it is alarming.”, he added.
“Pakistan needs to seriously think about the idea of improving preventive cardiology to contain the fast spread of CVDs”, said Prof. Dr. Anjum Jalal an eminent cardiac surgeon who is currently working as Executive Director of Punjab Institute of Cardiology Lahore and is Dean of the Faculty of Cardiac Surgery at College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan. “There is a strong need to work on dietary risk factors such as limiting the presence of trans fatty acids in all food supplies in Pakistan”, he added.
“In Pakistan around 3/10 deaths are contributed by CVDs”, said Dr. Khawaja Masuood Ahmed, National Coordinator Nutrition and NFA at the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination. Talking about dietary risk factors of CVDs he said, “High consumption of trans fatty acids (TFAs), sugar (especially sugar-sweetened beverages), sodium (edible salt), and lack of physical activity along with low consumption of fruits and vegetables are leading factors of CVDs”.
While discussing how to control the presence of ITFAs (Industrially produced trans fatty acids) in foods, Dr. Mausood gave an example of international best policy practices and said that Pakistan must eliminate industrially produced TFA by setting the 2% limit of ITFA of total fats in all foods.
He updated that the Ministry of Health has already initiated the process. “With adequate regulations in place, we can limit the supply of unhealthy fats in the food system, and save our population from many CVDs” he concluded.
