Second
Conference on Health Economics
Economics of Cardiovascular Diseases – Heart First
All Thanks to Almighty Allah the Lord of the worlds and peace and
blessings on the most Honorable of his Messengers, Mohamed Peace be upon Him, and on all his companions.
Under the generous patronage of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa , King
of the Kingdom of Bahrain , may Allah protect him,the
Executive Board of the Health Ministers’ Council for the Cooperation Council
States organizes, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health , Kingdom of
Bahrain ,the Second Health Economics Conference under the theme : "
Economics of Cardiovascular Diseases .. Heart First
"in the period
23-25
Rab'e' al thani, 1430 H/ 19-21 april 2009, at
This conference comes in continuation of the successful efforts
of the Executive Board to hold a series of specialized conferences about health
economics, which started with
Economics of Diabetes Conference, in 2007 in the light of
the increasingly given attention by
their majesties and highnesses the princes and the leaders of the Cooperation Council
States about cardiovascular diseases as well as the support for prevention and
control of such diseases in the Gulf Community.
In this occasion , it honors me to raise to HM King Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa , King
of the
This conferences comes to give
effect to resolution # 6 –A issued by the 64th conference held in
The Theme of this year 2008 is "PUTTING
HEART FIRST"
The importance of this conference comes in the light
of the evidence-based information and statistics in the WHO report entitled “Prevention
of Chronic Diseases is Vital Investment” which showed that cardiovascular diseases represent nearly 30% of the expected causes of
mortality in all ages in the world in 2005, i.e. more than 17.5 million deaths
and more than 80% of cases which occur prematurely are preventable. Cardiovascular diseases represent 10% of the
expected causes of the global burden of diseases in all ages in the world.
On the other hand, the main risk of factors of noncommunicable
diseases are collectively considered to be a principal cause which is responsible for 80% of mortalities
due to cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Every Year, more than:-
-
4.9 million person die because of
tobacco use.
-
1.9 million person die because of physical inactivity
-
2.7 million person die due to decreased consumption of
vegetables and fruits
-
2.6 million person die because of
overweight and obesity.
-
7.1 million person die because of
hypertension.
-
4.4 million person die because of
hypercholesterolemia
Many regional studies on a population sample aged
25-65 years, affirmed the
wide spread of risk factors in the Gulf region as follows:
Smoking 16-46%
Hypertension 15-35%
Overweight & Obesity 40-70%
Lipids 20-45%
Decreased Activity 80-90%
Diabetes 7-25%
Recent studies proved as well that the prevalence of
risk factors predisposing to coronary heart disease in the Saudi community:
Hypertension 26%
Hypercholesterolemia 53.9%
Smoking 21%
Diabetes 23.7%
Obesity 35.6%
Physical inactivity 80%
The large national study about coronary artery
diseases revealed that:
- The prevalence of metabolic
syndrome at old age is 39.3% in the
- 6.7% of those suffering from
coronary heart disease were having metabolic syndrome compared to 4.6 %
among those who are suffering from coronary heart and not having metabolic
syndrome.
At the global level, diseases of the heart represent the
highest mortality cause, and 42% of mortality causes in 2007 in the European
Union countries (about 2 million) represent the main cause in 38% of mortalities of men and
45% of women mortalities. This is a
recently reorganized and important phenomenon in the epidemiology of such diseases,
where the highest percentage were in
The total cost of the economic burden of the cardiovascular
diseases in
14% for premature
deaths, amounting to 27 billion Euro, 7% for work
absenteeism in the amount of 14 million Euro.
Coronary heart diseases represent about 25% of the total
economic cost of more than 50 billion Euro while the cerebrovascular
diseases form
around one fifth of the total cost at the amount of 38 billion Euro. Health care for cardiovascular diseases
formed about 10% of the total expenditure. On the other hand, this group of diseases had
great consequent economic impact on the
In
Cardiovascular disease is the most costly disease in the
United States, where the American Heart Association has estimated the direct
and indirect cost of cardiovascular disease for 2008 to be $ 448.5 billion :
the cost (direct and indirect for coronary heart disease is $156.4 billion,
that for stroke is $65.5 billion, and for heart failure $ 34.8 billion).
Total hospital costs for the year 2008 are estimated to be $
140.1 billion (including in-patients, out-patients – first aid). It is worthy to mention
that two years ago, in (2006) the direct and
indirect costs were $ 3403.1 billion, which clearly indicates the increasingly
high costs of such group of diseases and the large burden imposed on all health
systems in the world.
Based on this, it is worthy to mention that organizing this
conference, which is considered the first of its type in the Eastern
Mediterranean Region, comes due to the worthy attention and concern on the part
of the Ministries of Health in the Cooperation Council States. The conference includes the participation of
an elite group of international, regional and local scientists and experts in
this field and it highlights the burden of this group of diseases imposed on
the health systems and governments as well as the challenges faced in this
respect. The conference will focus on
the related economics in the various aspects, and examines the new initiatives
in health promotion and how to provide cost effective care.
The conference aims at involving the stakeholders as well as
partners and players in this regard and giving effect to their role in control
and prevention of cardiovascular
diseases in addition to increasing the knowledge of concerned people
about the economics of such diseases together with presenting and studying the
means of improvement of the quality of services provided and the optimal use of
resources.
I do
hope that the conference will come up with required recommendations which help
in depicting the strategic and executive plans for prevention and control of
these diseases in our Gulf communities in a systematic scientific approach which helps in setting appropriate and
effective health policies to deal with these diseases and reduce their
occurrence. This will be in compliance
and harmony with the Gulf Charter for the Heart , and
in giving effect to various items in the charter.
I do pray to Almighty Allah to grant our Gulf countries glory , pride and
prosperity to continue and progress and giving to be maintained in the
light of the generous patronage of our leaders –may Allah protect them .
May Allah bless our efforts and reward all of us abundantly , wishing you all the best .
Dr. Tawfik A M Khoja
MBBS,DPHC, FRCGP,FFPH,FRCP(
Chairman of
Conference
Family
Physician Consultant
Director
General Executive Board,
Council of
Health Ministers for GCC States
