World Heart Day 2012: Tabba Institute organises series of awareness activities

Like every year, THI on commemoration of World Heart Day, again took initiative to contribute in spreading awareness about prevention of Heart diseases. Celebrating World Heart Day 2012, themed "One World, One Home, One Heart", Tabba Heart Institute (THI) organised a series of Heart Health Awareness activities from September 23 to September 29, 2012.
The activities included Assessment Camp at Metro Cash and Carry, Lectures, and a Awareness Session for THI staff and general public at different places like schools, community centre and THI Auditorium. Free assessment for blood pressure, BMI, blood sugar and cholesterol was offered at Metro Cash and Carry (Gulshan-Iqbal) on September 23, 2012. Around 200 people got themselves screened, including Metro employees.
On September 24, 2012, an Awareness Session was held at V.M Public School, Dhoraji. Dr Shamim Siddiqui spoke on the occasion about healthy eating, importance of exercise and hazards of smoking & tobacco consumption etc. The lecture was followed by questions & answers and a brief session of physical games where the children participated zealously and won prizes.
A poster competition was also held between the students and the winners of the competition were given attractive prizes. A similar activity was organised the following day, ie on September 25, 2012 at Foundation Public School, North Campus. Both the events were very well attended and highly appreciated by the students as well as the School Management.
The next activity took place on September 26, 2012 at Kaka Bawany Community Centre, Federal B. Area. Following a similar pattern, the event comprised of an Awareness Lecture by Farzana Amir Hashmi, questions and answers, along with demo of some breathing exercises. The session was attended by about a hundred students/participants. The culminating event took place on September 29, 2012, when the World Heart Day was being marked all across the globe, at the THI Auditorium where a Cardiac Awareness Session was organised for general public.
The session included very informative and interactive lectures on importance of lifestyle modification and healthy diet on heart health by Dr Bashir Hanif (Medical Director, THI), Dr Khawar Kazmi (Director Cardiology, AKUH), Dr Khan Shahzaman (Executive Director, NICVD) and Professor Ejaz Vohra. The presentations were followed by interactive discussion between the audience and the Panel which also included the chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at THI Dr Khalid Rasheed.
The session concluded with the vote of thanks to the reputed guests and arriving participants. A brief awareness session about cardiac health was also conducted the same day at the main atrium in THI for the general public and the attendants which again received a very healthy response from the audience.
The weeklong activities organised by THI on the occasion of World Heart Day this year will hopefully result in a lot of people resorting to healthy lifestyle and diet and it will certainly help in reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease in our society.-PR