Oman’s cardiac care programmes highlighted at world conference

GENEVA: The World Heart Summit of the World Heart Federation that involved leaders from the global cardiovascular community concluded on Sunday in Geneva.

The Sultanate of Oman took part in this exclusive event with a delegation headed by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health along with policymakers, diplomats, researchers, private sector partners and health advocates.

The Health Minister spoke at the World Heart Summit stating that the cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death globally as well in the Middle East. He added that it is extremely important to concentrate on prevention as most cardiovascular diseases are luckily preventable by addressing behavioural risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and obesity, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol.he emphasised how daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as regular exercise could potentially avoid two-thirds of heart disease.

Dr Al Saeedi pointed out that Oman started its national

NCD screening programme for all citizens aged 40 years and above in 2007 which has been instrumental in the early detection of NCDS in the country. Moreover, cardiovascular disease care is integrated in primary healthcare by establishing specialised clinics run by family physicians with close link with the hospitals to provide continuum of care to this population.

Moreover, the health minister added that Oman has established cardiac units and stroke units in the regional hospitals and opened the National Heart Centre in Muscat in 2015, which provides the most advanced cardiac interventions to all types of patients.

WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY

The 75th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA75) being held from Sunday to Saturday (May 22-28) in Geneva, Switzerland, is attended by delegates of World Health Organization’s member states.

Omani delegation, headed by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, comprises Moh’s undersecretaries and senior officials.