PESHAWAR, Sept 23: Pakistan Cardiac Society will organise a one-day seminar to mark the World Heart Day on September 28, says a cardiologist.

Prof Dr Mohammad Hafizullah, while speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, said that the seminar would be organized in collaboration with the World Heart Federation.

He said that prominent heart specialists would deliberate upon issues pertaining to research in the field of cardiology and factors contributing to increase in the number of heart patients.

Towards the end of the event, recommendations would be made to the government regarding improvement in the cardiac care in the country, he said.

The theme for the World Heart Day this year is ‘Heart Diseases in Women,’ he said, adding that more women died of heart diseases than men and the women needed to be diagnosed and treated differently from men. About 10 percent women in Pakistan had heart problems, said Dr Hafiz.

Major factor increasing the risks of cardiac diseases were hypertension, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol level, diabetes and lack of exercise.

Five million people suffered from heart diseases in Pakistan, of which 50 percent died after five years, adding that 3.5 million people in the country suffered heart attack annually, of which above 50 per cent were women.

According to an statistical analysis, 10 percent women above 45 years of age suffered from heart disease, and one out of four women above the age of 65 years suffered from the same.

Stressing the need for creating public awareness about the cardiac diseases, Dr Hafiz said that it was wrong to think in terms of the disease being class or age specific, as they affected the poor and the young alike.