New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Wednesday inaugurated an awareness campaign on heart diseases.
‘Billion Hearts Beating’ is a national campaign initiated by Apollo Hospitals that seeks to raise awareness, drive positive action and to curb the increasing rate of heart diseases among the Indian population.
Inaugurating the campaign, Dikshit said: ‘As many suffer from heart disease in India even at a young age, awareness on heart ailments is necessary. Delhi government will be part of this campaign by publishing the details of the campaign in our health website.’
‘Apart from this we will extend this awareness campaign to our 3,000 resident welfare associations (RWA) under the Bhagadhari scheme,’ Dikshit said.
Prathap C. Reddy, chariman of Apollo Hospitals Group, said, ‘Heart diseases in India has assumed alarming proportions. An average Indian male being three-four times more likely to have a heart attack than his western counterparts.
Dikshit also filled up a pledge form which contains instructions like taking stairs instead of lifts, cutting down on cholesterol and keeping stress away.
The campaign has a website www.billionheartsbeating.com, where people can support the cause.
