An initiative of the World Heart Federation and World Health Organization, World Heart Day will be observed on the last Sunday of September every year, starting this year, in 28 countries. In India, the week-long activities this year are being supported by the Saffola Healthy Heart Foundation, which has been set up by Marico Industries, makers of Saffola, in conjunction with the All India Heart Foundation (AIHF) and the Cardiological Society of India (CSI).

There couldn't be a better occasion for convergence of interests. According to the foundation, cardiovascular diseases were estimated to be responsible for 2.4 million deaths in India in 1990, with an annual loss of 28.5 million disability adjusted life years. By 2015, it is feared that cardiovascular diseases will replace infectious disease as killer number one.

What is worse is that cardiovascular deaths in India occur at younger ages with 52 per cent of all deaths occurring below the age of 70 years as compared to only 22 per cent in developed nations.

"In fact, the risk of coronary artery diseases in Indians is 3-4 times higher than in white Americans, six times higher than in Chinese and 20 times more than in the Japanese," points out Dr S Padmavati, president of AIHF.

The reasons are fairly established as of now. "Indians have a genetic predisposition to heart disease, which is further aggravated by eating fat-rich food, unhealthy lifestyle and lack of exercise," says CSI president Dr U Kaul. He adds that about a tenth of the population in the Capital suffers from some kind of heart disease or the other and the situation is similar in other metros, too. Notwithstanding the magnitude of the problem, the prescription for saving people from heart disease is fairly simple. Most of the main factors that have been identified as causes of coronary artery diseases can be prevented or cured, says Dr Padmavati. Reducing smoking and alcohol, eating healthy foods, exercising, checking high blood pressure, diabetes and stress are in one's hands, it's only heredity, sex and age that are beyond one's control.

Amongst foods, switching to a healthy cooking medium can be quite helpful. "The cooking medium should be rich in mono-unsaturated fats and low in poly-unsaturated fats," points out Dr Kaul. Oils like rapeseed, mustard, olive, safflower, sunflower, corn and kardi are recommended. Saffola is a blend of kardi and corn, and hence the association with heart care and World Heart Day.

Explains Mr Harsh Mariwala, chairman and managing director, Marico Industries: "We saw a synergy in the message being promoted through World Heart Day-`I Love My Heart, Let It Beat'-and the core message of our brand Saffola-`The Heart of a Healthy Family'."

Of course, it's not a one-off association for Saffola. For the last eight years, the Saffola foundation has been creating awareness about the need for preventive heart care. Apart from organising awareness campaigns in public places and executive meets at corporate houses such as ONGC, ICICI, CEAT and IOC, the foundation also sets up cardiovascular disease detection and curative camps. On June 17, 2000, the foundation and the Indo-American Cardiac Diagnostic Centre organised free stress tests for over 600 employees of the Mumbai police. On July 2, 2000, the foundation and the Thane District Medical Practitioners Association organised a camp for the medical fraternity of Thane. The list of activities is unending and should remain so, considering the convergence of interests.