Aster RV Hospital launches ‘Heart to Heart’ campaign to help paediatric heart surgery

Bangalore, September 29, 2021: In order to promote a healthy heart lifestyle, raise awareness on the incidence of heart disease and also help younger children suffering from heart problems, Aster RV Hospital began its ‘Heart to Heart’ campaign in association with its global CSR arm, Aster Volunteers, here today. As a part of the campaign, the hospital introduced the ‘Heart to Heart Walks’, a contest where people are encouraged to walk for a minimum of one hour every day to contribute towards a good cause. For every 10,000 steps that a participant takes, Aster Volunteers will donate an amount of Rs. 100 towards a child’s heart surgery. Eminent cardiologist Dr. BG Baliga along with the cardiac care team of Aster RV Hospital including Dr. S Venkatesh, Dr. Divya Marina Fernandes and Dr. R.S Karthik were present at the event.
The contest will run from the 29th of September till the 8th of October. Steps will be tracked through various fitness devices of the participants’ choice.
In order to mark the occasion of World Heart Day, Aster RV Hospital also launched its hypertension clinic, a comprehensive and dedicated treatment facility that will counsel patients on the prevention of hypertension, early identification and proper management of hypertensive symptoms in patients. This will include a heart efficiency package, a unique heart evaluation through which interested patients will undergo a series of medical tests to get a thorough heart healthy profile to determine their risk of suffering from a heart attack.
The campaign began with a 1-hour long walkathon starting from Aster RV Hospital and culminated at Dhanvantri park with Dr. Divya Marina Fernandes and Dr. R.S Karthik educating the audience on the importance of having a healthy heart in today’s day and age, the risk factors that are leading to early heart issues in people today and the simple ways in which one can monitor their heart health and keep themselves healthy.
“India stands ahead of western countries in terms of its heart disease burden with India being the hypertension capital of the world. Intensive efforts are required to make people more aware of their heart health at an early age and take steps to maintain their heart health early. According to the Global Burden of Disease study, CVDs hit Indians a decade earlier than the western population. With the launch of these initiatives, we aim to change lifestyle habits in society that has led to this heart crisis. It is an honour to be part of the launch campaign here today,” said Dr. BG Baliga, Senior Consultant Cardiologist.
Created by the World Heart Federation, World Heart Day aims to spread awareness about cardiovascular disease (including heart disease and stroke). It claims 18.6 million lives per year globally and is found to be the leading cause of death around the world. In 2021, it has become particularly important to understand the causes of CVD and how to improve one’s health.
“It has become increasingly common for us to see patients burdened with stress, anxiety, combined with unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, overconsumption of alcohol, poor diet and lack of exercise, succumbing to heart attacks, developing hypertension or other heart ailments, majorly due to lifestyle factors. These can be controlled at an early age,” said Dr. S Venkatesh, Lead Consultant – Cardiology, Aster RV Hospital