The American Mission Hospital (AMH) in Bahrain marked the World Heart Day yesterday (September 30).

Director Robert Grey said the day is arguably the most successful, consistent and focused campaign against heart diseases and stroke.

'The World Heart Federation, based in Geneva, created the annual campaign in 2000 to increase public awareness of the threat of heart diseases and stroke and the importance of a heart-healthy lifestyle, so that children and adults all over the world, and especially in the developing world, can live better and longer lives,' he said.

Grey said this year's campaign encourages people to 'Team Up for Healthy Hearts', as a reminder of how families and communities can play an important role in helping individuals to reduce the risk of heart diseases.

'They can do this by focusing on areas such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and tobacco use,' he added.

Newly-appointed AMH cardiologist Dr Ma Emerita Co-De Leon delivered a lecture 'Healthy Heart' at the Samuel Zwymer Chapel at the hospital. Grey said heart disease and stroke were the world's largest killers, claiming 17.5 million lives a year.

'Eighty per cent of these are from people in low and middle-income countries, increasingly amongst those of working age,' he said.Trade Arabia News Service