A total of 974 people had their hearts screened in the UAE under the Safe@heart initiative of Dubai Health Authority (DHA) held in partnership with AstraZeneca Gulf and the Emirates Cardiac Society.

The screening program will run till February 2013 across all DHA primary healthcare centres and hospitals

During the screening, healthcare experts distributed educational material and provided health counselling to people whose tests results have showed higher than normal readings.

So far, 120 people have been screened at Nadd Al Hamar health centre, 125 at Al Khawaneej health centre, 137 at Al Badaa health centre, 175 at Dubai Hospital, 142 at Safa Health Centre, 75 at Al Mizhar and 200 at Rashid Hospital.

Dr Shawqi Khoori, the CEO of Rashid Hospital said: "It is essential for individuals to know their health status and this screening program is a good guideline which not only helps in early detection of diseases but also ensures that an individual can modify his or her lifestyle to remain healthy."

"This is particularly important in today’s times where people lead a fast-paced life, do not exercise regularly and have easy access to high fat foods. We strongly believe that such campaigns provide us opportunity to reach out to a large number of people at one time and conduct screening and educational activities," he added.

According to Dr Khoori, the screening were conducted for both cholesterol and hypertension- two major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Once screened, participants also receive counselling from healthcare providers based on the results of their screening.
 
Dr Fahad Baslaib, the head of cardiology section at Rashid Hospital and president of the Emirates Cardiac Society said, "Although 80 per cent of cardiovascular diseases are preventable, they turn out to be the leading cause of death worldwide."

According to him, cardiovascular diseases were a major cause of death in the UAE with one in every 4 deaths  caused by this. "The high prevalence of risk factors in our society, including diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and sedentary lifestyles are the main causes of these alarming numbers," he added.

Samer Al Hallaq, the president of AstraZeneca Gulf, said: “We feel it’s critical that UAE residents learn about the dangers of heart disease, and through the road show citizens participate to a personalised event which can help them take action for a healthier future."

"We face one of the hardest challenges with healthcare in our society - trying to change people’s behaviour to benefit their health," he added.-TradeArabia News Service