G
reetings from ProCOR,
An important new report entitled A Race Against Time, which examines
the
challenge of cardiovascular disease in developing economies, suggests
that
heart disease and stroke are causing hundreds of thousands of deaths
each
year in young people-a far great number than previously estimated--and
is
having a profound effect on the work force in developing countries.
The report was released by Columbia University's Earth Institute last
week.
It studies five countries: Brazil, South Africa, the Russian
republic of Tatarstan, India, and China. The researchers combined
population
estimates for the five countries with current death rates and workforce
data
to calculate the future effects of CVD both on society and on the
workforce.
While cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are often portrayed in the West as
diseases of affluent and older people, CVD mortality rates among
working age
people in India, South Africa, and Brazil are one-and-a-half to two
times
that of the United States.
The report suggests that the rate of cardiovascular disease is higher
in
developing countries because treatment is often unavailable, and
lifestyle
programs that have improved health in the US over the past several
decades,
such as diet and exercise awareness, anti-smoking campaigns, and
tobacco
taxes, do not exist in most developing countries.
In India, of the 5 million people who die of CVD each year, 28% are
aged
less than 65. In South Africa, despite the predominance of HIV/AIDS,
the
proportion of deaths occurring among people aged 35-44 due to chronic
disease, mainly CVD, is 12% for men and 17.2% for women. In Tatarstan,
CVD
death rates among young men have increased by 70% in 20 years.
The impact of heart disease and stroke is particularly devastating in
rapidly developing societies because they affect national economies.
In
2020, the less developed nations will have 500 million people aged over
65
years. By 2040 there will be a billion people of this age in these
countries
who will be most at risk for CVD. The report estimates that at least
21
million years of future productive life are lost because of CVD each
year
and that this number will increase to 34 million years of life lost by
2020.
The report notes that effective and inexpensive treatment for blood
pressure
and cholesterol can have an immediate positive effect on health, as
will
support for quitting smoking and encouraging healthier lifestyles.
The report, A Race against Time, is available in pdf format at
www.earth.columbia.edu/images/raceagainsttime_FINAL_0410404.pdf.
If you would like to receive an excerpt of the report in a plain text
email,
please send your request to me at [email protected] and specify which
of
the following chapters you would like to receive.
A. Introduction / Originals and rationale of the report
B. The global significance of CVD/ What are the global data?
C. CVD status and projections in 5 developing countries
D. The macroeconomic and economic consequences of CVD
E. Intervention strategies to reduce the impact of CVD
F. From analysis to action
G. Conclusions
H. Acknowledgments
I. References
Catherine Coleman
Editor-in-Chief, ProCOR www.procor.org
Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation
21 Longwood Avenue, Brookline, MA 02446-5239
t/617-732-1318 x3332 f/617-734-5763
[email protected]
----------------------
La impresión que uno tiene es del aumento de los fumadores juveniles.
En la city a la mañana, millares de seres acuden a sus escasos
trabajos,
fumando.
Cargan sus cerebros para tolerar las exigencias laborales.
Nadie los ayuda.
Plagados de letreros de propagandas de tabacos: atractivas, bellas,
convincentes, con otros mundos y fantasías posibles.
Nuestro Estado desguasado desde la Salud Pública, apenas intenta algo.
Sin dinero suficiente ni mucha creatividad.
¿ Cuanto cuesta visitas a las escuelas y colegios con entrenados
antitabaquistas?
¿ Por qué no se prohiben los avisos y se castiga a los que enseñan a
fumar
desde todos los medios de entretenimientos: de la TV al cine?
Mis colegas fuman.
Los residentes de cardiología fuman. Ignoran el mal. Se creen
inmortales.
En el edificio fuman.
Se agrupan, el humo los defiende del malestar.
Desde el encargado a ciertos vecinos cómplices.
Hasta en los ascensores.
En los bares.
En los pasillos de los subtes.
La masa cautiva por el tabaco.
¿ A quién le preocupa esto?
Las tabacaleras saben que triunfan en nuestros paisitos colonizados.
(Buenos Aires, Argentina).
Mayo 14, 2004.
E-mail: [email protected]
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