PESHAWAR, Sept 20: The Pakistan Cardiology Society is organizing the third Preventive Cardiology Symposium here on Sept 24. “The objective of the symposium is to determine risk factors and how to control these factors and spread awareness about blood pressure and need for exercise,” Dr Mohammad Hafizullah, head of the cardiology department, Lady Reading Hospital, said at a news conference on Tuesday.

He said heart diseases were on the rise in Pakistan and India. He said 1.3 million people in the two countries were suffering from heart diseases and their number was likely to increase by 111 per cent by 2020.

He said the ratio of heart attacks in the region among people below the age of 40 years was 10 per cent, which was alarming.

He said diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity and lack of exercise were the main causes of heart ailments.

He said that around 150 million people in the world were suffering from diabetes, of whom 50 per cent had suffered heart attack. Around 75 per cent diabetes patients died of heart attacks and 25 per cent of stroke, he said.

He said that because of the high cost of heart treatment, even governments in developed countries could not provide free medicines to patients and prevention was the best way to overcome the disease. He said that 90 per cent of the incidences of diseases occurred in the developing countries, which had only 10 per cent of the resources.

He said efforts were under way to set up a preventive cardiology unit in the Lady Reading Hospital. He said awareness was vital for preventing heart diseases.