WORLD HEART DAY 2022: Every year, September 29 is celebrated as World Heart Day across the globe.
According to World Health Organization, 17.9 million people die each year due to cardiovascular diseases ( CVDs) globally. The annual and global event is designed to create awareness about the risk of death from heart-related diseases and highlight the importance of how to prevent heart diseases. Below, we will explore the theme of this year’s World Heart Day celebration and its history and significance.
World Heart Day 2022: Theme
World Heart Day was launched by the World Heart Federation (WHF), a non-governmental organisation established in 1972 in Geneva, Switzerland. The theme for World Heart Day for 2022 is “Use Heart for Every Heart.”
The theme mentioned above highlights the WHF’s goal to bring together people from across the globe to fight against CVD. “Use Heart” refers to our need to take the correct steps for heart health, with courage. “For Every Heart” refers to serving others with heart ailments. This requires participation and promotion of the World Heart Day campaign to ensure that it reaches the maximum number of people.
World Heart Day: History
The WHF was named in 1998 as the International Society of Cardiology merged with the International Cardiology Federation. Professor of Cardiology, Antonio Bayés de Luna, served as the president of WHF from 1997 to 1999. He first suggested the idea of a World Heart Day since cardiac diseases had become a worldwide burden, especially in developing nations.
The first World Heart Day was celebrated on September 24, 2000. Till 2011, the day was celebrated on the last Sunday of September. From 2012 onwards, the date was changed to September 29, as global leaders pledged to lower mortality rates from non-communicable diseases by 25 per cent by 2025.
World Heart Day: Significance
World Heart Day informs people about the prevention of CVDs. It highlights the risks of tobacco use, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity, all of which cause about 80 per cent of premature deaths from heart disease, from strokes. Above all, WHF encourages a healthy-heart lifestyle across the planet, which it believes to be a fundamental human right.