Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Health Authority, the 4th Emirates Cardiac Society Congress and the 1st Pediatric Cardiology Meeting were organized by Hamdan Medical Award with the collaboration of the Emirates Cardiac Society from 7th till 9th of November at Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City.

 

On behalf of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid, Eng. Eissa AL Maidoor , the Director General of the Dubai Health Authority and the Deputy Chairman of the Award’s Board of Trustees, opened the 2 conferences and delivered the speech of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan in which he said: “The United Arab Emirates have paid a great attention to upgrade the individual capabilities, develop human cadres and resources, enhance and promote the path of progress, development and growth and keep abreast with the global developments in all fields, including the medical science”.

 

“In our health strategy at the United Arab Emirates we have devoted a considerable attention to the prevention aspect to reduce various diseases, including the chronic diseases which have become a significant burden on the patients, their families, the health institutions and the social and economic systems in general. Such matter requires more efforts and effective national programs to achieve this objective”, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan added.

 

“Within the past years the United Arab Emirates have managed to make a quantum leap in the diagnosis and treatment of the cardiovascular diseases in accordance with the best medical practices and the advanced global technologies, which enhance the UAE efforts to become an ideal destination for medical tourism in the region”, he said.

 

On the other hand, Dr. Alawi Al Sheikh Consultant and Chair of Cardiac Sciences Institute- Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, President of the Emirates Cardiac Society and Chairperson of the Congress, delivered a speech in which he thanked H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for his patronage of this congress and presented his gratitude for his constant support to the Emirates Cardiac Society and its scientific activities and efforts to promote cardiovascular health in the United Arab Emirates.

 

"Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide including in the United Arab Emirates, where one out of every four deaths is caused by cardiovascular disease. The heavy burden of cardiovascular death and disability in our society is expected to increase as a result of increasingly prevalent risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, dyslipidemia, obesity and unhealthy lifestyle.  We know from recent local and regional studies, as well as from our own clinical experience, that our patients suffer the consequences of cardiovascular disease at a relatively young age”, he said.

 

“The Congress Scientific Program Committee to enrich this year’s program with up to date content focusing on different subspecialties of cardiovascular disease. The final program features more than 10 dedicated sessions and 18 workshops including more than 80 lectures presented by experts from UAE, Arabian Gulf and colleagues from all over the world. We received more than 70 original abstracts from 25 countries, and these will be published for the first time in Heart Views, the official journal of Gulf Heart Association.”, he added.

 

Following the opening ceremony, a press conference was held to announce the results of the study conducted by the Emirates Cardiac Society on the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and their control among over 4128 participants across the UAE, with an average age of 37.

 

Participated in the press conference were; Abdulla Bin Souqat, Executive Director of Hamdan Medical Award, Dr. Alawi Al Sheikh, Dr. Obaid Al Jasim, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at Dubai Hospital and the Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Dr. Nooshine Bazargani, cardiologist, Dubai Hospital and Dr. Shahraban Abdulla, Consultant, Latifa Hospital.

 

During the press conference, the results of the study were announced showing that 30 per cent of the sample had high blood pressure, 31 per cent had high cholesterol, an equal number were suffering from diabetes and 20 per cent were obese.

 

Abdullah Bin Souqat, Executive Director of Hamdan Medical Award, declared that the Award is keen on supporting the efforts of the Emirates Cardiac Society and the coordination among the local economic, social and health institutions in order to adopt a future strategy to disseminate the results of the study to raise the community awareness towards the importance of the early screening for the risk factors of heart disease and the importance of the re-consideration of life style as a preventive program for such diseases.