The Most Important Health Challenge of the Decade
Introduction to Global Health
By: Evan Choate
By the time you have read this sentence someone has died due to a cardiovascular or heart disease. Roughly seventeen and a half million people die from them every year. That is approximately someone every two seconds. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death globally: more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause, representing thirty percent of all global deaths. Aside from the deaths nearly twenty seven million people are diagnosed with it and suffer the side effects every day. The scariest thing yet also good news, however, is that eighty percent of premature deaths from cardiovascular disease are preventable. After seeing this information I propose combating cardiovascular disease to be the most important health challenge of the next decade.
Taking a deeper looker to further this proposal of being the most important health challenge World Health Organization reports by 2030 more than twenty three million people will die annually from cardiovascular diseases showing it's not going away anytime soon.
Secretary Sebelius Addresses WHA
U.S. - Mexico Bilateral at World Health Assembly 1
U.S. Mexico Bilateral at World Health Assembly 2Cardiovascular diseases are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels that include a range of diagnoses such as varieties of heart disease to chronic pulmonary obstruction disease (COPD) but no matter which specific diagnoses they are all prevented in majority of the same ways. Healthy diet, regular physical activity, and not using tobacco products are the keys for this prevention. Even by knowing what prevents cardiovascular disease globally we still have quite the work cut out for us.
Take the prevention tip of healthy diet for example. World Health Organization suggests eating at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, and limiting your salt intake to less than one teaspoon a day. Just looking at...