Dubai: There is a significant increase in the number of people in the region suffering from heart disease despite efforts to improve the health of the heart, a senior health official warned yesterday.
He said urgent action is needed across the Gulf States to develop effective plans to address heart disease and raise awareness among the population on the necessity of changing their lifestyle.
"Heart disease is a major concern and a challenge to all health institutions to contain the increasing expansion of the disease," Qadi Saeed Al Murooshid, director general of the Dubai Health Authority, said.
Giving the keynote address at a conference on Heart Failure, Al Murooshid said it is a good opportunity to exchange experiences to ensure better service to such patients and reduce their burden and that of their families in the management of the disease.
Young affected
Dr Nooshin Bazargani, chairperson of the conference, told journalists that heart disease is affecting people as young as 45 years in the region.
But she said people today are living longer after a heart attack and the management and treatment of heart failure patients is very expensive.
"Giving them a good quality of life is difficult to achieve," she said.
The doctor said a multi-disciplinary approach is needed to manage such cases, including provision of a cardiologist, specialised nurses, psychiatrists, and primary health centres to family members.
The head of the cardiology section at Rashid Hospital said that last year 1,600 heart attack cases were reported at the hospital.
Dr Fahd Baslaid, chief cardiologist, said while in Europe the mean age for heart attacks is 60 years, it is in the early 40s in the region.
"The reason for heart attacks is not only due to bad lifestyle, but also viral infections which weaken the heart muscle and genetic factors," he said, citing the case of a 13-year-old girl who suffered heart failure.
"We need to catch such patients earlier," he said.
The three-day conference is organised by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Science and Dubai Health Authority in collaboration with the European Society of Cardiology.
