Building Bridges to Heart Health Campaign Launched in UAE to Drive Cardiovascular Disease Awareness

Bayer announced today the launch of its awareness campaign, ‘Building Bridges to Heart Health’, to urge the community to adopt preventive measures against cardiovascular diseases (CVD) across the UAE.

The campaign will include a series of screening events, the launch of innovative and artificial intelligence powered diagnostics solutions, as well as medical education to promote better heart health.

Mohamed Galal, Vice President and Head of Bayer Middle East Consumer Health said, “We have a commitment to increase knowledge and awareness around one of the most common causes of mortalities, CVDs. Through the campaign, our underlying objective is to build bridges between healthcare professionals, consumers, caregivers, as well as policy makers amongst others. We will also partner with leading heart and cardiology associations in the region to spread more awareness amongst patients and those at risk of CVDs.”

CVD death rates are on the rise across the UAE, Kuwait, Egypt, and Lebanon, and account for around 38%, 46%, 40%, 47% of total deaths respectively.[1]

Aspirin acts as a blood “thinner” and helps prevent blood clots from forming and helps prevent heart attack and stroke.[2]

In addition, Dr. Ahmed El Sokary, Consultant Intervention Cardiology at the Saudi German Hospital also said, “More people die annually from CVDs than from any cause. We must focus on altering our diets, engage in physical inactivity, stop tobacco and alcohol use, as they are all major risk factors of CVDs. [3] Such campaigns are an integral aspect of reducing the prevalence of CVDs. In the UAE, urgent commitment to CVD prevention from healthcare professionals, policymakers, government and other stakeholders and the promotion of healthy lifestyles, is warranted.”[4]

Prevention has been a longstanding objective of national governments throughout the region to combat the rising trend of cardiovascular diseases. Sponsored awareness campaigns, educational material as well as driving robust nutrition programs have been part of the equation. It is important to understand the underlying elements that help prevention of cardiovascular events.

“Our goal is to build a better, healthier future for people in the region. This will be achieved by the collective efforts in creating a sense of urgency and awareness around CVDs as well as its implications. We have a growing heart disease problem, and our work will help allow individuals to change their behaviors and improve their lives,” noted Galal.