Pulse 2020 highlights Pakistan's cardiac crisis

Speakers say 50 people die of heart issues every hour in Pakistan

KARACHI: Fifty people die of cardiac issues every hour in Pakistan, a quarter of the population is overweight, 15 per cent is diabetic - and all of this is worsening in the younger generation.

Speakers highlighted this crisis as Aga Khan University Hospital (AKU) inaugurated Pulse 2020, a three-day cardiovascular conference that is the first of its kind in Pakistan. The theme of the event is cardiometabolic health, focusing on health issues that result in heart attacks, strokes and vascular problems.

Dr Osman Faheem, the chair of the organising committee, welcomed the guests and inaugurated the conference. International cardiology experts such as Dr Eric Velazquez from Yale University, Dr Joseph Kisslo from Duke University and Dr Faeiz Zanad from Universite de Lorraine, who were the keynote speakers, stressed the importance of dealing cardiovascular and cardio-metabolic health, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol.

The conference, which will have speakers from seven countries, aims to come up with innovative solutions to Pakistan's cardiac crisis, which has become a near-epidemic.

Speakers, who include faculty from one of Pakistan's leading hospitals as well as internationally renowned experts, will discuss various aspects of cardiology and cardiovascular procedures.