Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Physicians and health authority specialists attending the 4^th Partners International Cardiovascular Conference have agreed a series of recommendations designed to reduce the impact of heart disease and related illnesses within the Middle East and Africa.

Deaths from heart disease in Middle East and Africa are set to increase at a higher rate than any other region in the world apart from Latin America over the coming decade, so the meeting had a particular urgency for health professionals.

The conference focused on both the treatment of patients already suffering from cardiovascular disease, and also tackling the risk factors across society that cause such illnesses.

In particular, tackling the link between risk factors like hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity and smoking and the increase in the incidence of heart disease was a key area of discussion.

Among the recommendations issued by the delegates to reduce the level of heart disease throughout the community were:

• Management of cardiovascular risk factors (Diabetes, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, smoking and obesity) needs to be the cornerstone of the regional strategy to reduce cardiovascular mortality in the community.

• Early prevention of cardiovascular diseases is a shared responsibility of health ministries, the media, parents, schools, and everyone in the community. There should be regional work to ensure a smoke free environment, regular exercise, and healthy dietary habits to ensure that the next generation is not as badly afflicted by cardiovascular diseases as the current one.

• Cardiovascular disease needs to be considered a childhood disease, because lifestyle is the main determinant of the progression and development of cardiovascular disease.

• Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the region but it is a preventable disease so health awareness about different risk factors is critically important.

• Tobacco use is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Consequently treating tobacco use is a key component of cardiovascular disease treatment and prevention.

The conference also issued recommendations on improving treatment levels for patients suffering from cardiovascular illnesses. These included:

• Aggressive treatment of diabetic patients can lead to prevention of cardiovascular disease.

• Atherosclerosis begins in childhood and progresses during a long pre-clinical phase before patients present with cardiovascular complications. A more active and earlier interventional strategy needs to be incorporated into risk management guides to target this early phase of atherosclerosis and to provide 'investment benefit'.

• Aggressive and comprehensive management of risk factors especially hypertension and hyperlipidemia will lead to decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Supported by an educational grant from Pfizer, the Conference brought together leading experts in heart disease including an international faculty that comprises physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, as well as representatives from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

-Ends-

About Pfizer
Pfizer Inc, founded in 1849, is dedicated to better health and greater access to health care for people and their valued animals. Every day, approximately 90,000 colleagues in more than 150 countries work to discover, develop, manufacture and deliver quality, safe and effective prescription medicines to patients.  For further information please visit www.pfizer.com.

About Partners International Medical Services
Founded in 1994 by Harvard Medical School's largest affiliated teaching hospitals, the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Partners HealthCare is a global leader in quality patient care, medical education and biomedical research. As an integrated medical system, Partners provides a full continuum of care to over 1.5 million patients each year.

Beyond patient care, Partners supports more than 200 graduate and post-graduate medical education programs, training nearly 5,000 clinicians and scientists annually. Partners HealthCare operates the largest hospital-based biomedical research enterprise in the United States. In keeping with a tradition of medical innovation dating back to 1811, fifteen Nobel laureates have trained or practiced at Partners-affiliated institutions.

© Press Release 2007

 

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