What is the heart?
The heart is one of the most important organs of the body. It delivers oxygen and nutrients to our cells and removes waste products too. Heart trouble is linked to our longevity and survival. So, anyone should take any sign of heart trouble seriously. To avoid getting heart diseases, it is important to eat right, stay away from smoking and alcohol, and junk food, and exercise often.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of heart and blood vessels disorder. They include coronary heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and other conditions. More than four out of five CVD deaths are due to heart attacks and strokes. It has been seen that one-third of these deaths occur prematurely in people under the age of 70 according to WHO (World Health Organization).
When is World Heart Day celebrated?
World Heart Day is celebrated on 29th September every year. This day aims to draw people’s attention to heart illness and the range of associated health issues. People celebrate this day to commemorate and promote different preventive steps and changes in lifestyle. They do this to avoid any cardiovascular diseases like heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and any other condition related to the same. This day also helps reduce the global disease burden. It is estimated that more than 17 million people die from heart-related illnesses every year. This is more than the people who die from HIV, cancer, and malaria.
What is done to celebrate this day?
The World Heart Federation launched this day in 2000. They inaugurated it as an annual event that they planned would take place every last Sunday of September. However, later they decided to fix it on every 29th day of September. Ever since that day, people celebrate this day on 29th September every year. Both government and non-government organizations celebrate this day from all over the world. To celebrate this day, they organize activities like walks, fitness sessions, public talks, marathons, exhibitions, and science fairs. Some famous buildings, landmarks, and monuments choose to go red on this day as a show of cardiovascular disease awareness.
How can a person celebrate World Heart Day?
Any person who wants to celebrate this date can do so by paying attention to their heart health. One can do that in several ways. They include partaking in physical exercises, quitting alcohol, stopping smoking, and starting to eat a healthy diet. If one wants to get involved, there are a lot of ways too apart from taking part in events. He or she can plan their own events or share tips and encouraging messages on social media.
Themes of this day
People all over the world celebrate this day every year with a theme. In 2016, it was ‘Power your Life’, in 2017 ‘Share the Power’, in 2018 ‘My Heart, Your Heart’, in 2019 ‘For my heart, for your heart, for all our hearts’, and in 2020 ‘Use heart to beat cardiovascular disease’. This year, the theme is ‘Use heart to connect’.
