The Minister of Health shows her support to the campaign “Women for the Heart”
The MAPFRE, Pro CNIC Foundations and the Spanish Heart Foundation, together with the Community of Madrid, promote this campaign, which is celebrating its second anniversary
Cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death in Spain. It represents 30% of total deaths, a percentage that places it above cancer (27,86%) and respiratory system diseases (11,08%). While in men, diseases related to the circulatory system provoked 26,58% of deaths (53,581 in total) in 2014, in women, this percentage increased reaching 32,84%, which means that a total of 63, 812 Spanish women lost their lives due to this.
The Minister of Health, Social Services and Equality, Dolors Montserrat, has highlighted the importance of prevention and the need to keep up with the good work of “boosting the promotion of health and power of women towards cardiovascular diseases”. On the other hand, the Minister wanted to highlight the great example of work in the campaign “Women with a heart”, a model of collaboration among administrations, health professionals and civil society.
These were the words spoken today in Madrid by the Minister of Health, Social Services and Equality, Dolors Montserrat, who participated in the celebration of the second anniversary of the awareness campaign, 'Women for the Heart', which has been promoted by the MAPFRE and Pro CNIC Foundation, the Spanish Heart Foundation and the Community of Madrid, since 2014.
Ana Rosa Quintana, Mónica Naranjo and Ruth Beitia, deluxe ambassadors in this initiative
The main objective of this Project is to inform the population about the importance of the early recognition of the symptoms and the need to maintain healthy lifestyle which contributes to reducing the impact of cardiovascular disease in women. The Deputy Minister of Social Policies and Family of the Community of Madrid has pointed out that in less than two years, the campaign has benefited 78, 0000 Spanish women, who have received free medical exams on the buses that have travelled around more than 50 municipalities.
The project, backed up by the General Director of Carlos III National Cardiovascular Research Centre (CNIC), Dr. Valentín Fuster, will count on, starting this month, with the unconditional support of the journalist Ana Rosa Quintana, the singer Mónica Naranjo and the athlete Ruth Beitia, deluxe ambassadors of this initiative, and whom throughout the year will contribute selflessly in broadcasting messages that are key to helping women identify the warning signals and prevent a heart attack.
Recommendations
Among the recommendations to avoid heart attacks, is the importance of physical exercise, the best ally in taking care of the heart; eliminating tobacco, as smokers as have a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease; avoid high levels of blood pressue and cholesterol; and, very important – calling for medical help as soon as possible, because with a heart attack, time is essential.
During the event, Valentín Fuster emphasized that “there is still a false perception that cardiovascular disease is a men’s thing, but as statistics continue to show, women die 6% more than men from this cause.” In this regard, he also recalled that women, especially after middle age, “are far from being protected and in general, take longer to ask for help in these circumstances.” For this reason, he noted “they must learn to recognize the warning signs and seek medical help quickly”.
Cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death in Spain. In 2014, these types of pathologies took the lives of 63,812 Spanish women, more than cancer
In this sense, he referred to Carlos Macaya, President of the Spanish Heart Foundation, who pointed out that “the popular belief that cardiovascular disease is a men’s thing sometimes causes women to confuse the symptoms of this cardiovascular event with anxiety disorders or other less severe problems that do not require so much urgency.”
The campaign, which throughout 2017, will run through 25 other places all over Spain, and which will continue to develop actions in Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Panama, will continue to provide the webpage, www.mujeresporelcorazon.org ,“where the six heart attack warning signs will be clearly described (shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, back pain, jaw pain, among others)”, said Antonio Nuñez, vice-president of MAPFRE Foundation, who also announced that the Foundation will also distribute the Take Care of the Heart guide to approximately 100,0000 women.
