Opening Of The Heart Expo 2000 Exhibition

22 Sep 2000

By Mr Lim Hng Kiang

Theme:Prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases

Good morning

Dr Low Lip Ping

Chairman

Board of Directors

Singapore National Heart Association

Dr Wu Dar Ching

Chairman

Organising Committee for

World Heart Day /

National Heart Week 2000

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

Burden of cardiovascular diseases

Thirty years ago, heart disease accounted for one in seven deaths in our population. Today, heart disease is responsible for one in four deaths, and if you take heart disease and stroke together, then they are responsible for about one in three deaths.

Heart disease has been within the top two leading causes of death, and stroke within the top five leading causes of death in Singapore for the last three decades. These diseases result in significant chronic disability and are very costly to treat.

The health and economic burden posed by cardiovascular diseases are felt all over the world, for both developed and developing countries. Although death rates from cardiovascular diseases are declining in many industrialised countries, as a group, cardiovascular diseases are still the most common cause of death worldwide in older men and women. It is estimated that by the year 2020, up to 40% of all deaths will be related to cardiovascular diseases.

Effectiveness of preventive strategies

The preventive approach is the best way to reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases in the long term. Preventive strategies can be effective. There are many risk factors contributing to cardiovascular disease that we can bring down. First, we can stop smoking. Second, eat more healthily and exercise regularly so as to control our body weight. Third, take steps to lower high blood pressure, lower high blood cholesterol levels and control blood glucose levels.

Risk factors among Singaporeans

How do Singaporeans fare in terms of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases? First, on smoking. Although the prevalence of regular smoking among adults had declined from 18% to 15% between 1992 and 1998, the smoking prevalence among young females aged 18 to 24 years had doubled from 3% to 6% over this period. My Ministry is targeting special anti-smoking programmes to help arrest this trend.

Second, on eating healthily and exercising regularly. Among children, about 10% of our primary one students and about 14% of our primary six students are obese. This has stabilised. We need to bring this down further. One way is to intervene earlier. My Ministry has recently launched the "Healthy Start to Healthy Weight" Programme at the polyclinics to promote healthy weight and eating habits, and activity among young children up to the age of 6 years. We will closely monitor the progress and outcome of the programme. Our students are reasonably active and participate in sports and physical activities. But the prevalence of regular exercise in adults was 17% in 1998. We would like to see higher proportions of Singaporeans exercising regularly as lack of physical activity is a strong risk factor for ischaemic heart disease.

Dietary practices of Singaporeans

In addition to the National Health Surveys, my Ministry had conducted National Nutrition Surveys in 1993 and 1998 to study the dietary practices of our population. Over the five-year period, the eating habits among Singaporeans had generally improved. However, significant proportions of people were still having diets which were excessive in saturated fat and in salt, and insufficient in dietary fibre and in calcium. The majority of Singaporeans were not eating enough fruits and vegetables.

As part of our efforts to step up nutrition education, my Ministry has produced a pamphlet '2+2' in four languages. The pamphlet emphasises the importance of the consumption of 2 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit per day as part of a balanced diet and to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. These pamphlets will be widely distributed to the polyclinics, schools, tertiary institutions, community centres, libraries, supermarkets and other places.

Preventive Programmes

We are continuing our efforts in the National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign. This year, the activities include health promotion programmes at workplaces, encouraging restaurants and hawker centres to offer healthier food choices, encouraging supermarkets to highlight healthier food items and display nutrition messages, and educating the public on healthy diets and exercise.

Recognising the need to expand preventive programmes, my Ministry started a community health screening programme for diabetes, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol for persons aged 55 years and above in July 2000. My Ministry will also launch the Chronic Care Programmes at selected polyclinics next month. We aim to extend these programmes to all polyclinics by April next year.

Therapeutic care

Besides preventive efforts, my Ministry will maintain a high standard of therapeutic care for those who are already ill. These include emergency services, intensive care and interventional and surgical treatment. Advances in medical treatment in the 1980s and in the 1990s resulted in improved survival rates for patients with coronary heart disease.

SNHA's contributions to heart health

The Singapore National Heart Association has been a strong advocate of prevention in the control of cardiovascular disease. It has consistently given active support to the National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign. In 1998, in recognition of the Singapore National Heart Association's contributions, my Ministry commissioned the Association to organise and run the Healthier Choice Label Programme. In this programme, the Healthier Choice Symbol is awarded to food products which meet the nutritional guidelines for each product category. Food products carrying the symbol are lower in fat, saturated fat or sodium, or higher in dietary fibre compared with other foods in the same group.

Since the launch of the Healthier Choice Symbol, more than 150 food products have qualified to use the symbol. This is encouraging. My Ministry would like to see more products in this programme as it will give consumers a wider selection of healthier food choices and help them make informed choices. My Ministry is working with the Singapore National Heart Association on various incentive schemes to encourage greater participation by food manufacturers and distributors in this programme.

The Singapore National Heart Association is working with international bodies like the World Heart Federation and the World Health Organisation to support worldwide efforts to reduce the burdens of cardiovascular disease. I commend the Singapore National Heart Association for its active contributions in promoting heart health.

Heart Expo 2000 Exhibition

Heart Expo 2000 Exhibition is one of the activities organised by the Singapore National Heart Association to commemorate the first World Heart Day, which is celebrated concurrently with the National Heart Week 2000. It features exhibits which highlight the important cardiovascular risk factors and provides an opportunity to those who visit the exhibition to learn about their cardiovascular risk profile and about how to maintain heart health. The exhibition will highlight the availability of various consumer products that can promote heart health. It will focus on five key areas: making healthier food choices, sports, stress management, pharmaceutical products and health care services.

I congratulate the Organising Committee for World Heart Day and National Heart Week 2000. I am pleased to re-launch the Healthier Choice Symbol and to declare the Heart Expo 2000 Exhibition open.