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- PHA MYHEART.PH EDITORIAL STAFF
PASIG CITY, October 1, 2024 — The Philippine Heart Association (PHA) in the celebration of the 2024 World Heart Day (WHD) on Sunday, September 29, showered the public with heart health awareness and benefits in line with its advocacy to amplify calls on lowering the cases of cardiovascular diseases, which are the top killers in the Philippines and around the globe.
Through the PHA, the Philippines has been marking the simultaneous event since 2002 with more than 200 heart societies in the world.
PHA President Dr. Rodney M. Jimenez emphasized the need to take care of the heart and to decrease the rate of ischemic heart diseases, as when the heart is affected, other organs will also be damaged.
“Iyong World Heart Day as mentioned is to educate everybody to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Bakit nga ba kailangan nating unahin ang puso natin? Kung gusto ninyo pa pong makapiling ang mga mahal natin sa buhay, unahin ang puso, kung gusto ninyo pang makapag-travel, una puso, kung gusto ninyo pang maabot ang mga pangarap ninyo unahin ninyo ang inyong mga puso,” Jimenez said.
Commitee Chairman Dr. Aurora Gamponia extended gratitude to the people, organizations, and institutions that helped PHA in celebrating World Heart Day and to help the public to improved their knowledge on heart health issues.
“Taun-taon ang Philippine Heart Association ay nakikiisa sa buong mundo para sa pagpapalaganap ng kamalayan sa kahalagahan ng pusong kalusugan at mga pag-aaral para sa pag-iwas sa sakit sa puso,” PHA Advocacy Chairman Dr. Jun Aventura, the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) executive director, said the celebration is not only for the doctors, hospitals or institutions that they are representing, but most importantly for the public.
“Our journey is all rooted in the World Heart Federation and PHA’s shared goal to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by a third in 2030,” Aventura said.
Meanwhile, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said that the yearly event acts as a crucial reminder of the critical need to address cardiovascular illnesses, one of the most serious health issues facing the globe today.
“The challenge is great, but we can overcome it. This year’s theme, “USE HEART FOR ACTION” pushes us to take real steps to improve heart health,” Herbosa said.
“Our focus is on strengthening primary health care and making sure that essential services that are preventing and managing non-communicable diseases are accessible to all Filipinos,” he added.
Ramon Carlos Z. Cayube, Training Division Chief, Pasig City DRRMO (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office) also shared that Pasig has partnered with the PHA in terms of capacity building.
“Ang advocacy ni Mayor Vico Sotto ay ‘health and safety’ para matuto sa basic life support like CPR, so we partnered with PHA, and we enlisted trainers, so since 2020 ay mayroong 7,000 certified trainers sa Pasig, so it’s really safe to be in Pasig. We have procured AEDs in Pasig, in city hall, sa palengke, bawat school, bawat barangay hall ay may mga kanya-kanyang AEDS,” Cayube said.
PHA kicked off the program with a “Walk, Jog, Bike” challenge led by the PHA doctors, fellows, and its members from different chapters and clusters, with the National Capital Region (NCR) chapter headed to Tiendesitas in Pasig City.
Dr. Jonnie Bote Nuñez noted that although it is acknowledged that people have insufficient time particularly in terms of doing physical activities, it is still important to “galaw-galaw, para hindi pumanaw.”
“In a fast-paced world where clock seems to tick like a blink of an eye, create time for exercise. Put on your sneakers. Walk. Sweat the stress out through walking and biking,” Nuñez said.
“In fact, it helped people to dodge the cloistered traffic jams through biking — not only a means of accessible transportation but also a cheap and beneficial exercise that is good for the heart,” Nuñez added.
“Heart-to-heart” talk
In PHA’s newly launched advocacy campaign slogan, “PUSONG PINOY,” PHA Director II Dr. Louella Santos highlighted “obesity avoidance” as well as nutrition for heart health that suggests to working on eradicating the excess fats and to properly portion the amount of rice, vegetables, protein, and fruit on each plate.
Santos enumerated and explained PUSONG PINOY which stands for: Presyon ay Kontrolin; Uminom ng Maintenance; Sugar Control; Obesity Avoidance; Nutrition for Heart Health; Galaw-galaw; Pagtulog nang Kumpleto; Iwas Stress; No to Alcohol; Optimal na Cholesterol Level; and Yosi Kadiri.
Meanwhile, PHA Treasurer Dr. Henry Tiongco discussed the consequences of having high blood pressure with warnings on the prohibited food to eat including fatty and oily food and dishes that are high in salt.
Tiongco explained that high amount of salt can cause clots in the blood vessels that may lead to stroke, while stiffed veins may trigger heart attack.
“Ang altapresyon ay silent killer, dahil minsan kahit mataas ang blood pressure ay walang nararamdaman. Kapag rin halimbawa ay 40 years old ka lang, maaaring ‘yung ugat mo ay parang pang-60 years old kasi na-damage na ang ugat,” Tiongco said.
In addition, PHA Council on Electrophysiology and Cardiac Pacing Chairman Dr. Michael Joseph Agbayani taught the public to exercise daily, maintain a healthy weight, avoid smoking, and always get blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure checked to avoid heart attack.
Meanwhile, PHA Vice President Dr. Walid Amil explained the pulse rates which should be considered normal when it is around 60 to 100.
Walid said that when it is lower than 60, it is called “bradycardia,” while if it is higher than 100, it is called, Tachycardia.
“Ang mga sintomas o mga posibleng maramdaman kapag ikaw ay nasa ilalim ng dalawang kondisyon ay pagkahingal, pagkahilo, pagkabog ng dibdib, at pagkawala ng malay,” Amil said.
Activities
PHA gave emphasis to one of its advocacies to encourage public to have healthy food choices by presenting cooking demonstrations from kitchen wizards.
PHA also offered booths including blood pressure check, Lipid tests, blood sugar tests, electrocardiogram (ECG) nutrition or Body Mass Index (BMI) assessment, and dietary prescriptions that were all free and available to the attendees.
It also provided trainings on Hands-on Only CPR with its goal to widen the skills, knowledge, and capacities of the people in case of emergencies like heart attack or cardiac arrest.
Moreover, PHA conducted contests including the aerobic exercises or Zumba challenge, as well as the Poster Making Contest with its theme, “Cardiovascular Health Plan to combat premature deaths from heart disease”. (/)