WORLD HEART FEDERATION AND GENEVA UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS INTRODUCE WORLD HEART DAY TO INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISTSThe World Heart Federation teamed up with the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland) for an international media launch of World Heart Day 2007. The event took place on 17 September 2007 aboard the University Hospitals’ Bus Santé (Health Bus), which serves as the mobile epidemiological observatory for the Swiss canton of Geneva. World Heart Federation Chief Executive Officer Janet Voûte and Professor Jean-Michel Gaspoz, Chairman of the University Hospitals’ department of community medicine and primary care, granted one-on-one interviews to international journalists who cover public health from Geneva, as well as to other interested journalists. Ms Voûte granted interviews to international journalists representing the Bloomberg news service, Asahi Shimbun of Japan, the Washington Post and the New York Times of the United States, and the news agency EFE of Spain, as well as to local Swiss journalists representing La Svizzera, Radio Cité and Léman Bleu. Bus Santé focuses on cardiovascular healthThe Bus Santé focuses on collecting epidemiological data about cardiovascular health. The goal is to help Geneva residents to control their major risk factors, which include hypertension, high blood cholesterol, obesity and overweight, physical inactivity and tobacco smoking as well as certain genetic factors. Some of the journalists received their own private 15-minute cardiovascular health checks on the Bus Santé. The checks included measurements for weight, body mass index, blood cholesterol and blood sugar as well as questions about diet, physical activity and exposure to tobacco smoke. After undergoing the checks, a health expert advised them about what areas they needed to improve upon. Overweight and obese youths a particular concern“The current generation of 5 to 15 year olds worries us particularly,” Dr Gaspoz told Bloomberg. “The sharp increase in the number of youths suffering from overweight and obesity is a very bad sign in the sense that such conditions in infancy and adolescence are very hard to eliminate in adulthood and predict a higher occurrence of diabetes and hypertension.” The World Heart Federation created World Heart Day in 2000 to increase public awareness of the threat of cardiovascular and the importance of a heart-healthy lifestyle, so that children and adults all over the world, and especially in the developing world, can live better, longer lives. World Heart Day 2007 took place on 30 September. Its theme was “Team Up for Healthy Hearts!” For more information about World Heart Day visit our web site. For more information about the Bus Santé visit the Bus Santé web site. | |||||||
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