World Heart Day is an annual event which aims to create awareness of heart disease and promote its preventive measures.

World Heart Day this year falls on 24 September, under the theme "How Young is Your Heart?". The objective is to encourage people around the world to adopt a heart-healthy lifestyle to help maintain a young heart for life.

Heart disease and stroke is the world's largest killer, claiming 17.5 million lives a year. A healthy heart is vital for living life to the full, regardless of your age or gender. Controlling the major cardiovascular risk factors, by choosing a healthy diet, being physically active and by not smoking can prevent heart attacks and strokes and may help the heart to age more slowly.

WORLD HEART DAY ACTIVITIES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

SINGAPORE
ICHHN is organising an art competition together with Parkway Group Healthcare. The objective is to raise awareness of the importance of heart health and to develop a keen sense of personal respsonsibility amongst our young for their own health. Winning entries will get to represent Singapore in the final art competition organised by ICHHN in Hong Kong. For more information, please click here.

The Singapore Heart Foundation is organising a two-day heart fair on 23 and 24 September and also an official launch for World Heart Day on 23 September. At the official launch will be activities such as health screening for cardiovascular risk, nutrition counselling, pharmacist counselling, body fat checks and sampling of healthy food and beverages. For more information, please click here.

HONG KONG
The Hong Kong College of Cardiology is holding a press conference and kick-off ceremony on 24 September, followed by a variety of activities from 24 September through 22 October.

For the Global Embrace 2006 more than 3,000 citizens will join the intergenerational walk event organised by the World Health Organisation to kick-off the Heart Health Carnival. There will be stage shows held at the Happy Valley Hong Kong Jockey Club for the carnival.

There will also be a World Heart Day Eddie Wang Drawing Competition in which 1,000 primary and secondary school students will illustrate their ideas on heart health through drawings at the carnival. Selected drawings will compete with those from Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai, Vancouver, Toronto and Taiwan in the final organised by the International Heart Health Chinese Network. There will also be a health talk to enhance the general public awareness of heart health. For more information, please click here.

For information on activities in other countries, please click here.