{"id":16131,"date":"2023-11-03T17:11:24","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T16:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/?post_type=news&p=16131"},"modified":"2024-01-22T17:43:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T16:43:05","slug":"whf-welcomes-move-towards-implementation-of-the-seahearts-initiative","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/whf-welcomes-move-towards-implementation-of-the-seahearts-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"WHF welcomes the SEAHEARTS initiative at SEARO RCM76"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a statement made at the 76th WHO Regional Committee session for South-East Asia.<\/em><\/p>\n The World Heart Federation, together with Movendi International<\/a>, the NCD Alliance<\/a>, Bangladesh NCD Alliance, SEAR NCD Alliance, Healthy India Alliance, and Eminence Associates for Social Development, welcomes the move towards implementation of the South-East Asia-HEARTS, or SEAHEARTS, initiative.<\/p>\n Cardiovascular disease<\/a> is responsible for nearly 4 million deaths in the region each year, though most of these are preventable. Key risk factors including the use of alcohol<\/a> and tobacco<\/a>, lack of physical activity, unhealthy diet<\/a>, and exposure to air pollution<\/a>, as well as high blood glucose level and high blood pressure<\/a>, are major causes of CVD deaths.\u00a0Many people living with CVD are also at risk of complications from other NCDs and multi-morbidities – approximately 245 million people in the South-East Asian region<\/a> have undiagnosed high blood pressure, and almost 100 million have diabetes, with that number expected to increase 68% by 2045.<\/p>\n The World Heart Federation applauds the \u2018Dhaka Call to Action\u2019 adopted by health ministry officials, technical experts, and partners in June of this year to scale up the implementation of SEAHEARTS. The 2025 milestone goals on hypertension and diabetes management, WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures, WHO SHAKE salt-reduction measures, and WHO REPLACE best practices on trans fatty acids are ambitious targets well worth striving for.<\/p>\n