Hamzullah Khan, Sultan Mahmood, Rafiullah.
A hospital based study on future approaches to combat cardiovascular diseases.
Pak J Cardiol Jan ;18(1-2):38-41.

Objectives: To determine the opinions of the physicians posted in two tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar regarding future strategies to combat cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Design: Descriptive observational survey. Setting: Khyber teaching hospital (KHT), Hayatabad medical complex (HMC) and department of community medicine Khyber medical college Peshawar. Duration: From 20th June to 15 august 2006. Methods: A total of 60 clinical experts were selected, 48 from KHT/KMC and 12 from HMC. Medical specialists, general physicians and community experts were included. They were interviewed with a pre-designed questionnaire, prepared in accordance with the objectives of the study. Results: According to the clinicians and general physicians opinion the national approaches to combat cardiovascular diseases should be aimed at: tobacco control legislation and its empowerment (60%), national physical activity policy (70 %), check on food quality (21.66%), research promotion in the field of CVD (36.66%), conducting workshops and seminars to educate people about CVD (30%) etc. Community approaches should be more specific towards promotion of healthy activities(71.66%), discouraging smoking (96.66%), and conducting local workshops to increase awareness(26.66 %). Individual approaches to combat CVD is to screen their blood pressure, glucose and lipid profile regularly (85 %), stop smoking (96.66%), decrease their weight with exercise (75%), take appropriate medicine in time if is patient or at risk (46.66%) and leadership and advocacy to increase awareness and decrease stigma (43.33%). Conclusion: while establishing a strategy for combating CVD there is need to offer multiple approaches on national, community and individual levels.

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