CVD, including heart disease and stroke, is the world’s number one killer
The World Heart Federation has announced the theme of World Heart Day 2014, which takes place on Monday 29th September, as heart-healthy environments.
Heart-healthy environments have been chosen as they are an essential part of looking after your heart.
Too often society ‘blames’ the individual: you smoke, you eat and drink too much, you don’t exercise. But very often people are ‘trapped’ in environments that predispose them to cardiovascular disease (CVD); for them there are limited options to choose a healthier lifestyle.
In advance of World Heart Day 2014, the World Heart Federation is calling on people to sign up to the World Heart Day petition to call on national and international leaders to recognize the global burden of CVD and to prioritize the need for heart-healthy environments wherever people live work, or play.
CVD, including heart disease and stroke, is the world’s number one killer. At least 80% of premature deaths from heart disease and stroke could be avoided by controlling risk factors such as tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, salt intake, physical inactivity and raised blood pressure. However, many people just don’t have the options to engage in heart-healthy behaviour as a direct result of where they work, live or play.
The World Heart Federation believes everyone has the right to live, work and play in places that contribute to their heart health and wants to highlight on World Heart Day that the environments we occupy – whether at home, at work or at play – can either encourage or discourage the choices we make to be more heart healthy. For example, people who live in urban areas are often surrounded by processed food outlets in settings where both healthy foods and clean cooking options are in short supply. In addition, the health systems in many countries have not kept pace with the explosion in rates of CVD and as such, people in more rural areas do not always have access to health services to advise them on heart health or people in poorer, urban communities do not have the same opportunities or suitable places to take part in physical activities that can help keep their hearts healthy.
World Heart Day was created by the World Heart Federation in the year 2000 to inform people around the globe that heart disease and stroke are the world’s leading cause of death and to encourage people to take action to protect their heart health. It is imperative that people understand the need to take care of their heart health and they have the right environments in which to do so, as supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) ‘25by25’ goal of reducing premature mortality caused by CVD by at least 25% by the year 2025.
Over the coming months in the lead up to World Heart Day 2014, the World Heart Federation will be launching several initiatives to raise awareness of heart-healthy environments and bring the need for these to the attention of political leaders globally, with the ultimate aim being the inclusion of CVD in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Keep an eye on the World Heart Federation website or social media channels to find out more. The World Heart Federation is also proud to partner with several organisations to support World Heart Day 2014, including BUPA, with their 8 Week Walking Challenge, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and International Sports and Culture association (ISCA) and their Move Week.
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