A new book of pocket-charts that will help health workers to identify people at risk of heart attacks and strokes has been released by World Health Organization (WHO).

The charts can be adapted for use in any setting, in any country, with any patient. It can save lives by prescribing the most appropriate treatment, said a WHO official.

The 'Pocket Guidelines for Assessment and Management of Cardiovascular Risk' can be carried and used by any health care worker and is available in six languages. The guide contains easy-to-use charts that can predict the risk of a heart attack or a stroke and could help health workers to save and improve the lives of people in all countries.

'This is a real breakthrough. Now, health care workers everywhere - whether they are in a high-tech medical centre in a big city, or riding a bicycle to visit patients in the countryside - can use a simple assessment and treatment tool to prevent heart attacks and strokes,' said WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan.

'Primary health care workers now have a new tool to assess and manage people at risk of heart attacks and strokes. This brings cardiovascular care to the places and people who need it most,' she added.

This is the first cardiovascular disease risk-prediction system that can be used worldwide and is also specially designed for use with people everywhere, including in low-resource settings. It is an important innovation that will help health workers to target limited health care resources at people who are at higher risk of developing heart attacks and strokes.

These guidelines will be distributed to health workers in the form of pocket guides that have been produced for each of the WHO regions (risk profiles are different for different parts of the world). The pocket guides are available in hard copy and on the WHO website https://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/resources/publications/en/index.htmlTradeArabia News Service