Pfizer holds cardiovascular summit

By Bernard Yaw Ashiadey

Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, has held its annual healthcare summit in Accra.

The theme for this year’s summit was ‘Think Heart,’ a call to action on caring for the heart.

The summit provided an elaborate platform for healthcare practitioners to engage in a robust scientific discussion on latest trends in cardiovascular disease and its management.

According to the Country Manager of Pfizer NEAR, Enrico Liggeri, the cardiovascular summit exemplifies the commitment of Pfizer to world-class medical education, capacity building and excellent services to the healthcare sector.

Statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) about cardiovascular disease are alarming.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally: more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause.

An estimated 17.1 million people die every year, representing 29% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, an estimated 7.2million are due to coronary heart disease and 5.7million are due to stroke.

Low and middle-income countries are disproportionally affected: 82% of CVD deaths take place in low and middle-income countries and occur almost equally in men and women.

WHO also forecasts that by 2030, almost 23.6million people will die from CVDs, mainly from heart disease and stroke. These are projected to remain the single leading causes of death. The largest percentage increase will occur in the Eastern Mediterranean Region while the largest increase in number of deaths will occur in the South-East Asia Region.

A Consultant Cardiologist at the National Cardiothoracic Centre, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Rada Bulley, said there several risk factors for cardiovascular disease

The behavioural risk factors of heart disease and stroke are unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and tobacco use.

The effects of unhealthy diet and physical inactivity may show up in individuals as raised blood pressure, raised blood glucose, raised blood lipids and overweight or obesity.

There are also a number of underlying determinants of CVDs. These are a reflection of the major forces driving social, economic and cultural change – globalisation, urbanisation and population ageing. Other determinants of CVDs are poverty and stress.

Public Affairs and Communications Director, Pfizer, Maggie Olele, said the dismal statistics from the WHO underscore the need to generate more awareness on the ways CVDs can be managed, considering the increase in habits such as unhealthy diet and physical inactivity which increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

She added that the burden of cardiovascular diseases can be reduced. Individuals can reduce their risk of CVDs by engaging in regular physical activities, avoiding tobacco use and second-hand smoke, choosing a diet rich in fruit and vegetables and avoiding foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt, and maintaining a healthy body weight.

There are also several treatments for CVDs. Survivors of a heart attack or stroke are at high risk of recurrences and at high risk of dying from them. But the risk of recurrence or death can be substantially lowered with a combination of drugs – statins to lower cholesterol, drugs to lower blood pressure, and aspirin.

Operations used to treat CVDs include coronary artery bypass, balloon angioplasty, valve repair and replacement, heart transplantation, and artificial heart operations.