World Heart Day Is All About Education And Encouragement

World Heart Day is on 29 September 2016. It’s a global celebration of the power of the human heart, with a strong message about keeping your heart healthy. Using the theme ‘Power your life’, World Heart Day aims to teach us how making a few small changes can make a lasting difference to the condition of this powerful organ. © World Heart Federation

What is World Heart Day?

Founded in 2000 by the World Heart Foundation, World Heart Day is all about raising awareness of cardiovascular disease. It takes place on 29 September every year, presenting a global education opportunity around this vital aspect of human health. All around the world, activities are organised to mark World Heart Day. Through these, we are encouraged to think about how much we exercise, what we eat and the impact of other lifestyle choices. By means of walks, runs, concerts and other events, we’re educated in how the daily small decisions we make about how we treat our body can affect the health of our heart. Which in turn impacts everything that we do. The theme for the 2016 World Heart Day is ‘Power your life’ and it carries the clear message that the state of our heart is at the centre of our overall wellbeing. Engagement with World Heart Day is also being actively encouraged online, particularly through the #worldheartday hashtag.

The need for World Heart Day

Cardiovascular disease is the single biggest killer of people. Through a combination of heart attacks and strokes, it claims the lives of well over 17 million of us every year, worldwide. World Heart Day aims to raise awareness that cardiovascular disease can affect anyone, regardless of age and gender. It can start before birth, as over a million children are born every year with a congenital heart defect. One in three women die from a condition associated with cardiovascular disease. Eight out of ten deaths related to cardiovascular conditions occur in low to middle-income nations, where healthcare education and provision is not always easily accessible.

World Heart Day resources

The World Health Organisation has set a target of reducing deaths from noncommunicable diseases by 25%, by the year 2025. Cardiovascular conditions are the single largest cause of those deaths. To help promote the healthy heart message, the organisers of World Heart Day provide a number of useful resources including:

• A thought-provoking infographic about the common causes of death
• Three posters and a leaflet
• Opportunities to promote World Heart Day events

There is also the opportunity to test whether you’re ‘heart smart’, by taking a short online test. This helps you think about the lifestyle factors which impact on heart health, and is an encouragement to make small changes in how you treat your body.