Every fifth person is exposed to cardiovascular diseases

Each fifth person in Moldova is exposed to the risk of developing heart diseases, which are the leading cause of death. More than 660 deaths per 100,000 people are recorded yearly in the country. These are the data of the first national cardiovascular screening, which were made public in a news conference on February 1, Info-Prim Neo reports. There were examined 24,000 persons from rural and urban areas and assessed the risk factors. The information collected through the SCORE questionnaire designed on the basis of the recommendations of the European Society of Cardiology showed that 18% of the people aged between 40 and 65 are exposed to the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Project director Inga Pasecinic said the factors that lead to the appearance of cardiovascular diseases include an unhealthy lifestyle, especially smoking, blood pressure and the high cholesterol level. She also said that 80% of the number of premature deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases can be reduced when providing primary medical assistance. The family doctors should inform the people about the risks of getting cardiovascular diseases and how they can be avoided. The cardiovascular screening shows the rural population is less exposed to the risk of getting such diseases as the number of smokers there is lower and the people in villages do more physical activity. Mircea Buga, the head of the National Health Insurance Company, said the cardiovascular diseases can be avoided by regular medical examinations and by asking for so-called compensated drugs. 60% of these drugs are intended for cardiovascular diseases. This year, the Company intends to increase the number of compensated drugs for preventing and treating diseases of the circulatory system. The national cardiovascular screening was carried out during February-December 2010 within the project “Organization and Performance of Screening for Identifying Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases”.