Every year, over 17 million people die from heart disease. As a way to fight this, the World Heart Federation created World Heart Day. It’s an event held every year on September 29.
World Heart Day is observed and celebrated annually on September 29, with the aim of increasing awareness of cardiovascular diseases and how to control them to negate their global impact. The international holiday was established by the World Heart Federation in collaboration with the World Health Organization. The president of the World Heart Federation from 1997 to 1999, Antoni Bayés de Luna, had conceived this idea. The first celebration of the annual event took place on September 24, 2000, and, until 2011, World Heart Day was observed on the last Sunday in September.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most common cause of death globally. An estimated 17 million people die from CVD every year. Coronary heart disease or strokes were the major causes of these deaths. A common misconception about CVD is that it impacts more people in developed countries who are more reliant on technology and
lead sedentary lifestyles. But more than 80% of the deaths occur in middle-income and low-income countries. Fortunately, the main causes of cardiovascular disease are modifiable factors, which include lack of exercise, smoking, and a poor diet. Economic systems of countries are also majorly impacted by cardiovascular diseases — the cost of treatment is high and failure to treat the diseases timeously results in loss of productivity and long absences from work.
More than 90 countries take part in this international observance every year. As a result, World Heart Day has proven to be an effective means for disseminating information about CVD. The high level of involvement from governments and organizations is most important for developing countries, which are heavily affected by these diseases.
In other news from the World Heart Federation, on 27 August 2023, the global pediatric and adult congenital cardiac community gathered in Washington, D.C., at the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Ahead of this meeting, the community has issued an urgent call to action for all governments, all health and development agencies, and the world research and academic community to protect and promote the health of all people with pediatric and congenital heart diseases.
The World Heart Federation stated, “Accelerating progress to address the burden of pediatric and congenital heart disease globally is in line with the 2030 Global Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDG3). We believe that the existing gross inequity in the health status of people with pediatric and congenital heart disease, particularly in LMICs, is politically, socially, and economically unacceptable, and is therefore of concern to all countries. Long-term investment into the lifelong well-being of children should be a guiding value for investments in health and a key priority.
“We hereby call upon the global community in general, and every responsible government, for an effective policy response supported by adequate financial investment to address the needs of all with pediatric and congenital heart diseases. To this end, we recommend to governments, multilateral organizations (the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Bank and others), funders, professional societies, research and teaching institutions, civil society, and the private sector, the following key actions”:
Increase Capacity
2030 Goal: The timely diagnosis treatment and lifelong care of pediatric and congenital heart disease will be integrated into all health system strengthening and surgical scale up plans.
• Domestic and global investments to increase capacity for pediatric and congenital cardiac care at secondary and tertiary hospitals.
• Harness private sector capacity and innovations in areas
of digital, primary care and diagnostics, task shifting if available.
• Support of local referral networks by ministries of health and regional academic institutions to improve early diagnosis, surveillance, and lifelong care of heart disease, and to develop diagnostic and treatment guidelines for low resource settings.
• Universities, NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) and teaching hospitals should invest in multi year partnerships focusing on leadership, infrastructure development and training to increase the technical capacity and financial sustainability of local hospitals.
Build the Cardiac Workforce
2030 Goal: Health professionals will be able to recognize the basic signs and symptoms of congenital and rheumatic heart disease
Accredited pediatric cardiac training programs will be available in all countries
Ministries of health, finance, and education, and regional professional bodies collaboration to:
• Evaluate workforce needs in pediatric and congenital cardiac care.
• Develop accredited pediatric and congenital cardiac training and education centers and programs that include developing the technical and leadership capacity of specialist pediatric cardiac nurses, physicians, pharmacists, perfusionists, and respiratory therapists, and others.
• Develop pediatric and congenital cardiac workforce strengthening plans with appropriate recruitment and incentivization to minimize attrition, promote career satisfaction and skills retention in the nursing and pediatric cardiac care professions.
• Support the careers of existing pediatric and congenital cardiac care professionals and build mentorship programs and viable career path options for the next generation.
