Heart Disease in the Third World
Diseases of Affluence Now Reaching Epidemic Proportions
May 1, 2009
"As heart attack levels fall in the West" says Professor Stephen Leeder, Director of Australia's Menzies Centre for Health Policy " they are rising in the developing countries."
AIDS Epdemic vs. Epidemic of Heart Disease
Although much is heard these days about the worldwide AIDS epidemic — and what western governments, pop singers and philanthropists like Bill Gates are attempting to do to tackle the spread of this dangerous disease — there is little being done about the epidemic of heart disease that is so prevalent in the Third World.
Statistics reveal that heart attacks and strokes, once thought to be diseases of affluent western societies, are responsible for far more deaths in developing countries than AIDS is! In 2004, for example, HIV/AIDS caused three million deaths around the world — while strokes and heart attacks caused 17 million deaths.
Diseases of Circulatory System
Sadly, heart diseases and strokes — collectively referred to as cardiovascular diseases, since they are basically diseases of the circulatory system and are due to the same causes — attract little interest from governments and international agencies committed to improving global health. Pop singers get together to draw attention and collect funds for fighting AIDS in Africa — but only the drug companies who have medicines to market seem to take an interest in cardiovascular disease in the Third World.
Epidemic of Obesity
The shift of working people from rural areas to cities that has taken place all over the developing world may, in theory, bring greater prosperity to "Third World Nations" — but it results in the consumption by these rural migrants of more "city food" with its high percentage of fats, sugars and salt. Sedentary transport by car and bus replaces active travel by bicycle and on foot. Throughout the world an epidemic of obesity and expanding waistlines, even where under-nutrition persists in poorer sections of society, presages high levels of diabetes, heart disease and strokes.
US Tobacco Lobby
At the same time, the prevalence of smoking continues to increase in poorer countries. If one were to suggest the setting up of a "pro-AIDS lobby" in the United States where handsomely paid "lobbyists" were encouraged to promote the spread of AIDS, the American people would recoil in horror — but it has been quite acceptable for the US to have a legitimate "pro-tobacco lobby" whose main aim is to cultivate politicians and the media there to promote the spread of the smoking habit and the marketing of tobacco products! Both AIDS and Tobacco kill — but while one is a dirty word, the other is a lucrative business!
This tsunami of commercial greed continues to push tobacco consumption, especially in the Third World, and causes millions of deaths each year. Fortunately, this epidemic of heart disease CAN be controlled.
Smokers CAN Reduce Risk of Heart Attack
Smokers who stop smoking halve their risk of heart attack and stroke within two years of quitting. Treatment of high blood pressure and raised cholesterol can radically reduce the risk of heart disease. A healthy diet and regular physical activity helps — as well as access to proper health care where trained health personnel can measure risk and advise about treatment if it is needed.
In Australia a few years ago the government ntroduced a scheme whereby Family Doctors are paid for undertaking preventive health assessments for people over forty who have at least one risk factor for heart disease. An interesting concept — a bit like paying doctors to do a "service" for their patients in order to prevent the mechanism suffering a "breakdown".
Responsibility for Health
But waiting for the government to take the lead is not enough — individual citizens owe it to themselves to take responsibility for their own health .
We should all get ourselves checked for the risk factors, and then actively take effective measures to control them before we ourselves end up as another heart disease statistic.
 |
