Use Heart, Know Heart is this year’s campaign message for Heart Awareness Month (HAM) and World Heart Day. It is a theme championed by the World Heart Federation (WHF) and its membership.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa (HSFSA) is a member of the WHF. The theme for this year is underpinned by the need to encourage individuals and communities to get a deeper understanding of how to maintain good heart health.
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World Heart Day (WHD), celebrated annually on 29 September, is the highlight of HAM, bringing the four week-to-week themes together in the ultimate light-up of iconic buildings and sites around the world in order to put a spotlight on cardiovascular disease (CVD).
During HAM, the HSFSA conceptualises weekly themes highlighting key CVD risk factors. The themes encompass Young Hearts; Mature Hearts; Hypertension and Diabetes and finally, in week 4, Cumulative Risk.
In week 4, which culminates on WHD, emerging evidence on climate change, environmental pollution and so on was considered as factors making up the cumulative risk.
During HAM, the foundation implemented many activities in community-based settings in the provinces of the Western Cape, KZN, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.
The flagship programme, called the School Health Promotion Initiative (SHPI), reached young South Africans at a public-school level to make them aware of the benefits of making healthier choices for their heart health as well as overall health.
Within a life-course approach, detecting CVD risk in children can prevent cardiac conditions during the teenage years and adulthood. Acknowledging the burden of hypertension and diabetes as key drivers of CVD, along with other CVD risk factors such as climate change, pollution and co-existing conditions, will help impart knowledge on the importance of calculating or considering one’s cumulative risk in order to take preventive action.
It is also important to remember that one’s genetic predisposition is also a consideration when assessing vulnerability.
In South Africa, CVD is responsible for almost one in six deaths, claiming more lives than all the various types of cancer combined. Every day, 225 South Africans die from heart disease and strokes, which are the second leading cause of mortality in the country.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) report (2021) states that CVDs carry the largest burden of disease and resulted in 17.9 million deaths in 2019, which represents 32% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% were due to heart attacks and/or strokes.
It is estimated that 75% of CVD-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). SA is a middle-income country by World Bank standards. CVD is one of the leading causes of death in the non-communicable disease (NCD) cluster in SA.
The HSFSA stands with the NCD Alliance in the Global Week for Action on NCDs and with a call for combined efforts to help reduce the NCD burden globally and improve health equity for all.
Adopting healthy behaviours at every age and stage, even in the face of a genetic predisposition, helps lessen the risk for CVD onset and reduces morbidity and mortality.
HSFSA’s preventative and empowering messages, through its various programmes and media platforms, target South Africans on every level. As a foundation, they hope to inspire the nation to take their health into their own hands and look after their hearts through self-management.
On WHD, look out for the various landmarks, nationally and globally, lighting up in red to raise awareness about the CVD burden. Further to this, the teams across provinces, especially in the Western Cape, Gauteng, KZN and Eastern Cape provinces, will be hosting activities on 29 September.
Among these are the Paddagat shopping centre in George, Ushaka Marine World in Durban, Cedar Square in Fourways, Gauteng and the V&A Waterfront Clock Tower in Cape Town.
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About the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA) plays a leading role in the fight against preventable heart disease and stroke, with the aim of seeing fewer people in South Africa suffer premature deaths and disabilities. The HSFSA, established in 1980, is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation that relies on external funding to sustain the work it carries out.
The HSFSA aims to reduce the cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden in South Africa and, ultimately, the health care system of South Africa. Our mission is to empower people in South Africa to adopt healthy lifestyles, make healthy choices easier, seek appropriate care and encourage prevention.
For more information, visit www.heartfoundation.co.za. www.facebook.com/HeartStrokeSA and www.twitter.com/SAHeartStroke
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