The republican medical and educational campaign "Healthy Heart - Successful Future" will be held on May 26 in Belarus, as reported to a BELTA correspondent by Alexander Patsayev, Deputy Director for Organizational and Methodological Work of the National Research Center "Cardiology".
The republican medical and educational campaign "Healthy Heart - Successful Future" will be held on May 26 in Belarus, as reported to a BELTA correspondent by Alexander Patsayev, Deputy Director for Organizational and Methodological Work of the National Research Center "Cardiology".
Health points will be set up in hospitals, polyclinics, rural outpatient clinics, other medical facilities, pharmacies, as well as in some department stores, hypermarkets, shops, and large industrial enterprises. Anyone can measure their blood pressure, find out their height, weight, body mass index, and receive advice on forming a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition. If heart and vascular diseases are detected, participants in the campaign will be referred for further examination at polyclinics.
Hotlines will be organized in regional and Minsk city cardiology dispensaries and centers, and central polyclinics from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, during which everyone can receive qualified consultations from cardiologists and staff from the departments of the Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education and Belarusian State Medical University.
"Every year we organize and conduct 2-3 similar campaigns. Based on the experience of previous campaigns, they are attended by 60 to 130 thousand citizens, of whom about 60% are women," said Alexander Patsayev. "Approximately 5-7% of patients who consult us during the campaign learn for the first time that they have high blood pressure and require further examination and treatment, and 2-3% of patients need emergency medical care and, in some cases, hospitalization due to hypertensive crises."
The aim of the campaign is to increase motivation for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, timely detection and treatment of circulatory system diseases, and the formation of value orientations for preserving and strengthening health.
In Belarus, over the past 35 years, the number of patients with circulatory system diseases has increased almost tenfold. "The rise in morbidity is due not only to the high prevalence of risk factors and unhealthy lifestyles but also to the targeted work of medical professionals in the early detection and treatment of cardiovascular diseases," noted Alexander Patsyev. Thanks to this, the republic has managed to achieve a reduction in the overall mortality rate from these diseases from 810.9 per 100,000 population in 2005 to 701 in 2015.