Muscat: Cardiovascular disease (CHD) is the leading global cause of death, accounting for 17.3 million deaths per year, a number that is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030. Cardiovascular diseases claim more lives than all forms of cancer combined. In Oman, chronic non-communicable diseases related to lifestyle, namely coronary heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and cancer, are now emerging as new health challenges for the country. CHD made up nearly 10.5% of all deaths for adults aged 45–60 years and 31.5% for these above 60 years. In various studies carried out in the Omani population, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, sedentary occupations and smoking have been reported to be the major cardiovascular risk factors.
The cardiac catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) in National Heart Centre of the Royal Hospital in cooperation with cath lab in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital will educate visitors on how to recognize Myocardial Infarctions (MI), cardiac diseases, identifying the risk factors, treatment and prevention. In addition, scientific materials such as leaflets and books will be given away to the public.
National Heart Centre will provide medical professionals to administer complimentary testing and conduct check-ups for women from 4PM until 9PM. Checks include blood pressure, blood sugar and body mass index (BMI) to determine if the participating women are at risk of heart disease. In addition, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training sessions will be conducted during the initiative by Oman Heart Association.
Following their check-up, each shopper will be offered diabetic screening and a short diet consultation by Oman Diabetes Association while Oman Society of Lipid & Atherosclerosis will provide lipid profile screening for visitors.
In addition to the health checks, City Centre Qurum will be promoting an active lifestyle, by hosting free-for-all Zumba classes to be held in the central galleria on September 23 and 24.
“We are proud to bring back the hugely successful ‘Feel the Beat’ campaign as we aim to encourage our visitors, especially women who are so busy with day-to-day responsibilities, to take care of their overall well-being and raise awareness of heart disease. We hope to demonstrate that by taking simple steps and attending regular check-ups can ensure a healthy body. The ‘Feel the Beat’ campaign is a wonderful example of how Majid Al Futtaim’s great moments extends to build prosperous communities,” said Watfa Humaid Al Harthy, Senior Mall Manager, City Centre Qurum.
‘Feel the Beat’ is part of Majid Al Futtaim’s wider programme of health and sustainability initiatives taking place annually. Last year, the campaign successfully closed with almost 500 women getting tested and more than 500 visitors learned how to perform Hands-Only CPR.