ILOILO CITY (PIA) – A call for a global mass action towards prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases was held in Iloilo province with the first World Heart Day 2022 celebration on September 29.

Department of Health (DOH) 6 regional director Dr. Adriano Suba-an, during the press conference, said that  data  of DOH  showed that in  2019  hypertension was the third leading cause of morbidity with 29,331 hypertensive individuals who sought consultation to health facilities for screening and medication needs. With this, a total of 12,892 died in a year.

Interventions (Phil PEN) services wherein all adults aged 20 years old and above should be screened for hypertension,” Suba-an said.

In 2020, a total of 351,796 adults were screened by LGU health workers across the region.

Meanwhile, seven towns in Iloilo province became recipients of the Healthy Heart Project which aims to reduce mortality caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases. The project includes a package of interventions, technical assistance to LGUs to embrace promotion of a healthy lifestyle, implementation of evidence-based treatment protocols, access to essential medicines for NCDs and implementation of monitoring systems. 

Iloilo province had successfully piloted the project in its first district in 2021 and continued its implementation despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Heart Day 2022, in partnership with the DOH6, held health clinics, COVID-19 primary and booster vaccination, patient education sessions on the prevention and management of hypertension, zumba activities and family planning services. Ilonggos have also availed other health services including HIV testing and screening, mental health counseling, nutrition counseling, blood chem extraction at the Capitol Clinic, blood typing at the Philippine Red Cross Booth, and actual demonstration of hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Dr. Kenneth Ronquillo and  Undersecretary lawyer Charade Grande, DOH6 director Suba-an, and representatives from World Health Organization (WHO), Resolve to Save Lives, and World Heart Federation.  

“We are very proud and happy to pursue this convergence and partnership particularly, it is generating practical benefits for our beneficiaries. We want to make the entire province a beneficiary of the Healthy Heart Project and even the rest of the country. We look forward to working with the World Health Organization, the DOH and its partners, for the other areas in our fight against NCDs,” Defensor noted. (JBG/April Grace Padilla/PIA6)