A campaign called ‘Queen of Heart’ to create awareness on cardiovascular diseases which is apparently killing more women than all the cancers combined. A campaign supported by Biocon and a joint initiative of Heal Foundation in partnership with Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) and Centre for Community medicines AIIMS New Delhi, Queen of Heart aims to touch and influence the hearts of Indian men and women.
With around three million Indian women succumbing to heart related complications every year, the need for such campaigns and initiatives is amplified. In India, heart disease is considered a men’s disease, and the Queen of Heart campaign aims to turn this conventional perception around and focus on women being victims of heart disease.
In a recent survey called ‘Visualizing the Extent of Heart Disease in Indian women,’ or VEDNA, which mapped the trends of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Indian women, revealed eye-opening views of healthcare experts, like 83 per cent of the doctors believed that Indian women are ignorant about heart diseases, while 76 per cent observed that women die of heart diseases due to late presentation to the hospital, and 66 per cent cited that CVD deaths among women was due to late diagnosis.
“For strengthening and improving healthcare delivery in the country, it is very important to have a balanced approach towards universal health, which will remain an unrealised goal until interventional strategies encompass public health in the right way. I firmly believe such awareness campaigns broadly intend to achieve this target,” said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon.
“More young women are resorting to tobacco smoking these days, and this is one of the most significant factors behind why the incidence of CVDs among Indian women is on the rise,” said Dr K Srinath Reddy, President, World Heart Federation and President, Public Health Foundation of India.
“It is disheartening that despite rising education and increasing awareness among Indian women, very few of us take daily exercise seriously when a simple routine of exercising for 30-45 minutes every day can help keep heart disease at bay,” said Ashwini Nachappa, former national athlete and Arjuna Awardee who has also acted in a few films.
The Queen of Heart campaign is aimed to be an interactive campaign focussed firmly on heart disease in Indian women. It aims to bust myths, enlighten men, and urge them to take their loved ones (women) to a cardiologist for a precautionary heart check-up. This campaign, conceptualised and to be implemented by Via Media Health and Communication, reportedly includes massive nationwide public relation drives, consumer and primary care physician engagement programmes, as well as digital, electronic and print media activation. It aims to reach millions in order to spread awareness regarding managing rising cases of heart disease in women effectively.
EH News Bureau