Today is World Heart Day: the Polish Cardiac Society supports educational campaigns

World Heart Day is a holiday celebrated annually in over 120 countries on September 29. The initiator of this event is the World Heart Federation, of which the Polish Cardiac Society is an active member. The main goal of World Heart Day is education and promotion of a healthy lifestyle and prevention as the most effective way to stay healthy. The slogan of this year’s Day of the Heart established by the World Heart Federation is: Use Heart For Every Heart.

Starting in 1949, the cardiological community began efforts to formalise its activities. The result was the founding of the Polish Cardiac Society (PTK) in 1954. The necessity of founding the Society was quickly confirmed by the establishment of more and more branches bringing together a growing number of physicians. Currently, the PTK includes 5,500 members. It conducts research activities, educates and popularizes knowledge in the field of cardiology. It does all this by following our mission statement, which is to prevent and combat heart and vascular diseases through involvement in innovative solutions enabling the development and education of both the medical community and society.

The Polish Cardiac Society, as every year, is actively involved and supports educational campaigns aimed at promoting knowledge about heart and vascular diseases as well as about the possibilities of diagnosis, treatment and health prophylaxis, paying particular attention to civilization diseases and their risk factors: overweight and obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol or diabetes that can be avoided by living a healthy life.

According to data from the World Health Organization, “cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death on a global scale, claiming approximately 17.9 million lives annually. Four out of five deaths from cardiac disease are the result of heart attacks and strokes, and one-third of these deaths occur in people under the age of 70. In comparison, Polish statistics are similar. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated the cardiovascular debt.

“In the first year of the pandemic, we had almost 17% increase of the number of cardiovascular deaths. Cardiological debt existed before the pandemic, but the COVID-19 intensified it even more “, Prof. dr hab. med. Przemysław Mitkowski, President of the Polish Society of Cardiology emphasizes.

 As part of this year’s celebration of the World Heart Day, the Polish Cardiac Society has prepared a number of educational and information activities, among others, a press conference, thanks to the kindness and hospitality of prof. dr. hab. n. med. Marcin Gruchała, Rector of the Medical University of Gdańsk.

“On World Heart Day, it is worth recalling that cardiovascular diseases are the first cause of death in Poland. In the postandemic period, the so-called health debt relates to a large extent to cardiology. For this reason, it is particularly important to prevent this group of diseases and to ensure efficient diagnostics and effective treatment related to full access to modern drugs and innovative treatment methods “, Prof. Marcin Gruchała, Rector of the Medical University of Gdańsk says.

 As a part of the holiday, educational articles published in national and regional media, radio broadcasts, interviews with experts and activity in social media are planned. Educational materials on cardiovascular diseases are also available on the websites of educational portals for patients and their caregivers prepared by experts of the Polish Cardiac Society: copozawale.pl, arytmiagroziudarem.pl, slabeserce.pl, copozatorze.pl, Wysokolesterol.pl and sercepacjenta.pl .

The Polish Cardiac Society supports all educational initiatives that spread knowledge about the symptoms and contribute to understanding the essence of cardiovascular diseases in order to prevent or effectively treat them. 

This year, just like last year, the Society is reuniting with other countries in the action of illuminating significant objects in the country, therefore it once again launched the initiative to illuminate the facade of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw on September 29.

Photo by Dariusz Jacek/ptkardio.pl