Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for South-East Asia called for making healthy heart choices and take action to reduce heart disease in women.
Dr Poonam came up with the observations on Monday on the eve of the World Heart Day, which was observed in Bangladesh like other countries in the world for raising awareness about cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
Terming CVDs, including heart disease and stroke, as the world’s number one killers, the WHO regional director said these diseases caused 17.5 million deaths a year globally.
“In the WHO South-East Asia Region, CVDs cause an estimated 3.7 million deaths annually, one-fourth of all deaths. One-third of these deaths from cardiovascular diseases is premature and occurs among those aged less than 70 years,” Dr Poonam said.
“The majority of premature deaths due to cardiovascular disease can be prevented through simple measures such as consuming a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity, avoiding tobacco and alcohol, and by managing stress,” she added in a media statement released by the WHO regional office.
The WHO regional boss also called upon all the countries on behalf of her organization to take action to reduce heart disease in women.
“Cardiovascular diseases are a major health problem among women and remain under-recognized and under-treated. Risk factors for heart disease in women mirror those in men and include lifestyle factors such as tobacco use, overweight and obesity, harmful alcohol use and physical inactivity, as well as physiological risk factors such as elevated blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes mellitus,” she said.
“Additionally, in the South-East Asia Region, exposure to household air pollution from using solid fuels for cooking substantially increases the risk of heart disease in women,” she added.
