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Aarti Dhar, CNS Correspondent, India (First published in theindiasaga.com ) The tobacco industry and its products, which have a deadly impact on people’s lives, cost the world’s economies more than US$ 1 trillion annually in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity, according to findings published in ‘The Economies of Tobacco and Tobacco Control.’ Around 6 million people die annually as a result of tobacco use, with most of them living in developing countries. Policies to control tobacco use, including tobacco tax and price increases, can generate significant government revenues for health and development work, according to this new landmark global report from WHO and the National Cancer Institute of the United States of America . Such measures can also greatly reduce tobacco use and protect people’s health from the world’s leading killers, such as cancers and heart disease. The almost 700-page monograph examines existing evidence on two broad areas of the economics of tobacco ...

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe To say that more poor people succumb to non communicable diseases (NCDs) as compared to the rich is not an understatement. One would wonder, why this co-relation between poverty and NCDs— if these diseases are non communicable how do they end up killing more poor people? Poverty stricken communities have little or limited recourse to healthcare, and hence access to medical screening is constrained and at times not available to them. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes are the four main NCDs that account for 82% of all NCD deaths. As far as CVDs (group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels) are concerned, early detection is crucial in managing them. Another important factor is that people coming from families with a history of CVD have to be monitored and if found in need get early treatment. Now poverty plays a negative role as poor people fail to get health monitoring as required. An interes...

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe To say that more poor people succumb to non communicable diseases (NCDs), as compared to the rich, is not an understatement. One would wonder, why the co-relation—the diseases are non communicable and so how do they end up killing more poor people. Poverty stricken communities have little or limited health facilities hence access to quality healthcare to these people living is always a constraint and at times not available. Early detection is crucial in managing cardiovascular diseases or CVDs as they are more commonly known as. Another important factor is the family history of the patient, and people coming from families with a high risk of CVD have to be monitored to get early treatment. Poverty plays a negative, yet crucial, role as poor people fail to get healthcare monitoring as required. An interesting survey taken by the Cardiological Society of India in 2015 revealed that 60% of the people surveyed were unaware that they had hyp...

Alice Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland Cardio vascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the major chronic ailments that have strongly impacted today’s generation, along with other non communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer, hypertension and diabetes. Notably, in over 80% of the cases, the diseases are lifestyle related. Small changes in lifestyle practices and choices could effectively minimize risk factors. CVDs include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, congenital heart disease and deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. As often, the low and medium income countries tend to carry a higher burden of CVD related deaths. This may not necessarily be due to very high incidence of CVDs in these countries, but also due to the weak health systems and weak economies that hinder general populaces from accessing regular medical check-up for early detection and failure to afford the medical care associated with them.  According to the Programme Development Manager at the W...

Pritha Roy Choudhury, CNS Correspondent, India A chance meeting with Rosalina Diengdoh (name changed), a 50 year old woman  from the north eastern state of Meghalaya in India, who is in Delhi for the treatment of her son, reaffirmed my doubts regarding the impact of pictorial warnings on packed tobacco products to dissuade people from using the same. It was in April 2016, after a two year battle, that the Indian government  finally acceded to quadruple in size the graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging. Harrowing images of the health consequences of tobacco use must now be displayed across 85% of the surface area of all tobacco packets -- a measure proven to help users quit and prevent others taking up the habit. I met Rosalina, outside the All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Even though I live in Delhi, I was born and brought up in Shillong—A North eastern state of India. Seeing a lady in front of me, who was dressed in the traditional attire of that state...

Aarti Dhar, CNS Correspondent, India [First published in The India Saga , New Delhi, India] One-third of India’s population has been found to be hypertensive with 60% of these people unaware of their status, either due to lack of awareness or poor access to good screening tests, a latest survey has found. The initial findings of the Great Indian BP (Blood Pressure) Survey, conducted by the Cardiological Society of India in 24 states on September 21, 2015, found 33% of respondents to be hypertensive. This alarmingly high figure reinforces the need for aggressive cardio-preventive measures. The survey was conducted simultaneously over a period of 8 hours, in government and private hospitals across 700 sites in 100 cities, with the help of 7,500 volunteers and paramedics. More than 1.8 lakh people were studied, making this the single largest single day survey of hypertension done anywhere in the world. Initial findings based on 74,520 results indicate that more than 24,500 who were suffer...

Tuyeimo Haidula, CNS Correspondent, Namibia Take care of your heart instead of burning it out… This was the message delivered by a panel of experts during a webinar organised by CNS and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) , in lead up to World Heart Day. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally. In 2012, 31% of all global deaths were attributed to CVDs – this equates to roughly 17.5 million deaths. An estimated 7.4 million of these deaths were due to coronary heart disease, while 6.7 million were due to stroke. In Namibia CVDs account for about 21% of deaths. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) about 57% of persons who smoked 30 cigarettes per day for 25 years died of some CVD as compared to only 36% of non-smokers. Speaking during the webinar, programme development manager for World Heart Federation, Alice Grainger Gasser said CVDs and other NCDs hit the poor the hardest. Gasser called for strengthe...

This CNS Inspire episode presents eminent intervention cardiologist Professor Narendra Nath Khanna who is well recognized for his passion for doing all what it takes to ensure that cardiac care is within the reach of common person in India. With decades of experience behind him today he is a noted advisor to Apollo Group of Hospitals and a Senior Consultant in Cardiology and Coordinator of Vascular Services at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, India. CNS Managing Editor Shobha Shukla spoke with Prof NN Khanna on the sidelines of 11th National Conference of Indian Society of Cardiology. [ Click here to listen or download this podcast ]

Francis Okoye, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria In a webinar organised for the media by Citizen News Service, in the lead up to World Heart Day 2016, health experts spoke on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). They discussed ways and means to protect oneself from them, as they are the world’s leading cause of death, killing 17.5 million people every year. The experts included Rachael Shaw , project manager World Heart Federation, Prof Dr Rishi Sethi, Department of Cardiology, King George’s Medical University KGMU, and Alice Granger Gasser , programme development manager, World Heart Federation. Ashok Ramsarup, former senior programme  producer at South African  Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) moderated the programme. It has been a year since our governments committed to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) 2030, one of which is to reduce mortality from non communicable diseases (NCDs) by 1/3 by 2030. CVD is one of the 4 main NCDs—the other 3 being diabetes, cancer and chron...

Josephine Chinele, CNS Correspondent, Malawi About 57% of persons who smoked smoking 30 cigarettes per day for 25 years died of some cardiovascular disease (CVD) as compared to only 36% of non-smokers, says the World Health Organisation (WHO). It further says that a long-term study of men aged 40–59 years found a significant connection between tobacco consumption and death by CVD. The WHO information also points out that tobacco use is a universal but avoidable risk factor for many diseases, including CVDs. Apart from tobacco consumption, raised blood pressure (hypertension), raised blood glucose level (diabetes), obesity and physically inactivity, are also high risk factors of developing CVDs. CVD is a term used to describe a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and includes coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, congenital heart disease and deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. 31% of all global deaths are attributed to CVDs – this equates to roughly 17....

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service) This is the message of the World Heart Federation for this year’s World Heart Day , which is observed on September 29 every year to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which include heart disease and stroke. The CVDs, along with cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease, form the 4 major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and together account for 82% of the 38 million deaths caused by NCDs every year. Over 17.5 million deaths due to CVDs every year! CVDs are responsible for most NCD deaths, killing 17.5 million people (7.4 million from heart attacks and 6.7 million from strokes) every year, followed by cancers (8.2 million), respiratory diseases (4 million), and diabetes (1.5 million). Yet at least 80% of premature deaths from CVDs can be avoided by controlling tobacco consumption, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol. Hypertension is the biggest risk factor for CVD, followed by tobacco use, diabetes, p...

[ Watch webinar recording ] [ Listen / do wnload audi o podcast ] We welcome you to register for an exclusive media webinar in lead up to this year's World H eart Day . It is almost a year now since our governments committed to reduce mortality relate d to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by one-third by 2030. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) - heart disease and stroke - are top killers - causing over 17 million deaths every year worldwide ! [ Watch webinar recording ]  [ Listen / do wnload audi o podcast ]  Experts from the World Hea rt Federation , De pa rtment of Cardiology, King Geor ge's Medical University (KGMU) and International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) will present and respond to questions live !   Date: Tuesday, 20th Septem ber 2016 Time: 1:00pm Geneva Time, 12 noon London Time, 1pm Durban Time, 7:00am New York/ Boston Time, 4:30pm Indian Standard Time, 6pm Thailand time (check www.timeanddate.com for your local time) Duration: 60...

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS Delegates at the ‘ 1st Asia Pacific Congress on Diabetes, Hypertension & Metabolic Syndrome in Pregnancy’ , which was jointly hosted in Colombo by the Ministry of Health Sri Lanka, the World Health Organization (Sri Lanka Country Office) and the World Diabetes Foundation , endorsed the Colombo Declaration demanding urgent action to address the link between maternal health and diabetes as a public health priority. The declaration resolves to address the suboptimal maternal health care and rising incidence of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy (HIP) in order to improve the health of women and future generations of South Asians. The declaration states that focusing on hyperglycaemia in pregnancy provides a unique opportunity to integrate services to improve mother and new born health and address prevention of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Even though South Asia has remarkably redu...