JEDDAH - The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries issued recently a new Heart Charter that aims to decrease cardiovascular fatalities in the region. Health ministers of the six-nation GCC discussed the draft of the charter at their 64th conference that ended in Riyadh on Friday.
A report by the World Health Organization entitled "Preventing Chronic Diseases: A Vital Investment" shows that cardiovascular diseases caused 30 percent of deaths worldwide in 2005.
More than 80 percent of these cases are preventable.
"Some risk factors are responsible for 80 percent of these diseases," said Dr. Tawfik Khoja, director general of the Executive Board of the Council of Health Ministers of GCC States.
The charter is divided into three parts. The first part of the charter outlines the main goal of decreasing the effect of cardiovascular diseases on health and economics in member states.
The ministers pointed out the important role of political, governmental, academic and social leaderships in addition to the participation of the private sector to raise awareness on how to reduce cardiovascular diseases.
The second part addresses social and individual risk factors, and the third part underscores the strategies that will be followed locally, regionally and internationally to reduce cardiovascular diseases.
The GCC Charter highlights important steps that can be taken to lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as quitting smoking, proper diet, weight loss, low cholesterol, controlling stress and doing aerobic exercises (such as biking, swimming and jogging) for at least 30 minutes five days a week.
Khoja said the executive board had earlier considered launching a cardiovascular diseases committee after noticing the prevalence of these diseases in the GCC.
During the conference, officials discussed experiences in other countries that were found effective in reducing cardiovascular diseases.
Changes in the lifestyle brought on by public awareness campaigns have reduced heart-related deaths in Canada, the UK and the US. In Finland, social campaigns that fought sedentary lifestyles prevented deaths from heart diseases among men by 65 percent.
Khoja said that the GCC charter is similar to the European Heart Health Charter.
