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Heart
attack and blood vessel diseases, including high blood pressure and
stroke, know no boundaries. In almost all countries of the Americas,
these diseases are the number one cause of death. The highest mortality
rates for all cardiovascular diseases are found in the English-speaking
Caribbean, the USA, Canada, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Death rates
from cardiovascular diseases are on the rise in Central American and
Latin Caribbean regions.
More people are using tobacco. Diets have more fat. And physical work is
being replaced by labor-saving devices – leading to sedentary lifestyles
and weight gain. The combination of bad lifestyle habits and
urbanization, over time, leads to high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood
pressure, and the premature development of atherosclerosis.
The result can be heart attack, heart failure, stroke, peripheral
vascular disease, and other vascular problems. Medical treatment
requires huge expenditures for medical and hospital care, depleting
economic resources at all levels of the countries of the Americas.
For many years in the Americas, these disease problems were under-recognized.
But in 1948, the American Heart Association became a volunteer-led
organization united in the coordinated fight against heart and blood
vessel diseases. That same year the National Heart Institute (now the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) was formed to coordinate
federally-sponsored biomedical research into heart and blood vessel
diseases in the U.S. In Canada in 1955, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of
Canada was formed to address the problem in that country.
The InterAmerican Heart Program was created in September 1992 under the
auspice of the World Heart Federation with the support of the American
Heart Association, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, the
Interamerican Society of Cardiology, and heart foundations and societies
throughout the American continents.
On April 17, 1994, in Mexico City, 21 participants representing 12
countries in the Americas signed a Statement of Intent to become members
of the organization they named “InterAmerican Heart Foundation whose
mission was to reduce disability and death from cardiovascular
diseases and stroke in the Americas.” Since then, 36 heart
foundations have ratified their membership, and the numbers are growing.
These organizations are committed to working together toward a unified
mission. |
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Stepping Forward For Prevention |
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In Berlin, Germany, on
September 9, 1994, the World Heart Federation approved the InterAmerican
Heart Foundation as the official intercontinental foundation for the
Americas with the focus on promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing
cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Community action and population strategies have been developed to
promote healthy eating habits, living tobacco-free, regular physical
activity, and a positive psycho-social environment. These strategies are
intended to control conditions that are precursors of heart disease and
stroke, i.e., hypertension, dislipidemias, obesity, and diabetes.
Programs are aimed at improving risk factor profiles of the population
by supporting positive changes in lifestyle and control of the
conditions mentioned.
In Atlanta in August 2001, the IAHF joined with the Pan-American Health
Organization (PAHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
World Health Organization (WHO), and The World Bank to help unify
efforts in the area of non-communicable disease surveillance in Latin
America and the Caribbean so that we may have a strong basis for
interventions and to evaluate their long term success.
In June 2002, the IAHF became an organization in official relations with
the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) opening the way to greater
collaboration between government and non-government sectors in the fight
against heart disease and stroke.
The InterAmerican Heart Foundation is unique in that it is the only
federation of heart associations and foundations on our American
continents. While there are a number of Inter-american medical societies,
there are no other organizations with a population focus that are open
to non-medical as well as medical approaches. |
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Working for Heart Health |
For these many
reasons, the InterAmerican Heart Foundation was formed in 1992
with three primary goals:
- To promote an environment throughout the Americas
that is conducive to the prevention of heart disease and stroke.
- To promote the growth and development of foundations
that will take active roles in public education, professional
education, public advocacy, and fund raising.
- To foster partnerships between health professionals,
business, industry, and other sectors of society for the
accomplishment of its mission and goals.
The fight against cardiovascular disease and stroke is just
beginning in many of these countries of the Americas, and there
is still much to do in all nations of the Western Hemisphere.
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Programs and Goals |
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For many years, the
world’s top scientists and health professionals have met and
reviewed all the available evidence regarding heart disease and
stroke and concluded that we know enough to act now and prevent
much of it. They organized their recommendations in various
Declarations beginning in 1992. The IAHF has taken these
recommendations to be the basis of its own programs. In just a
few years, IAHF and its member organizations have begun to
translate these recommendations into programs that:
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Encourage health
professionals and the general public to practice prevention
by identifying risk factors and adopting healthy lifestyles.
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Call to the
attention of the medical community the widespread problem of
heart disease in adult women in Latin America.
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Help develop
programs of pediatric and adult cardiopulmonary
resuscitation, emergency cardiac care, and advanced cardiac
life support throughout Latin America.
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Support the
development of a strong agreement among nations around the
world for better tobacco control.
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Determine the
extent of risk factor prevalence and its association to
socio-economic factors in our region to be able to better
target interventions.
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Act as a
communications conduit for new ideas, new programs, and new
technology that may aid organizations in the Americas, and
elsewhere, in their common fight against the cardiovascular
diseases.
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Provide
continuity in what will be a long-term effort to help people
of the Americas to help themselves.
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