World Heart Day inspired a host of activities across Europe, including health checks and policy events. In Zagreb, for example, the Croatian Hypertension League teamed up with the European Alliance for Cardiovascular Health (EACH) as part of an ongoing campaign – ‘Hunting the Silent Killer’.
Hypertension is the leading ‘silent killer’ in Croatia, while the risks associated with dyslipidaemia are widely underestimated by the public, according to Prof. Ivan Pećin, Vice-President of the Croatian Atherosclerosis Society and Croatian Hypertension League.
An event held in European Square, Zagreb, saw approximately 200 citizens screened on site, with blood pressure checks, cholesterol and glucose testing, ECG recordings, body composition analysis, and personalised counselling and education on offer. The campaign generated strong public interest and media coverage.
The programme also featured a performance by a young Croatian blues singer, Odin Sokač, one of the League’s ambassadors, and the broadcast of a promotional film encouraging the public to take care of their ‘heart, brain, kidneys and blood vessels’.
Prof. Pećin has presented the long-running awareness campaign at multi-stakeholder policy events in Warsaw and Brussels, as an example of good practice for others to follow. (For more, see the May edition of the ESC Advocacy Bulletin which put Croatia in the spotlight.)