World Heart Day 2025 marked with calls for stronger heart health awareness
By Chemtai Kirui, NAIROBI,
Doctors and campaigners across the country joined the globe by marking World Heart Day on Monday, warning that cardiovascular disease remains one of the world’s top killers.
This year’s campaign, led by the World Heart Federation, runs under the theme “Don’t Miss a Beat”, urging people to adopt healthier lifestyles and governments to strengthen preventive care.
The federation says more than 20 million people die each year from heart disease and stroke, many of them preventable through early diagnosis, diet changes, exercise and improved access to treatment.
In Kenya, the Kenya Cardiac Society (KCS) said it is working with the Ministry of Health and county governments to raise awareness and offer free screening clinics.
“Let’s raise awareness on heart disease and stroke, which claim 20.5 million lives yearly,” the society wrote on X.
Cardiologists warn that urban lifestyles, smoking, high blood pressure and obesity are driving a steady rise in heart-related illnesses across the country.
Recent studies show that in Vihiga County, over 56% of adults surveyed have high blood pressure. Among schoolchildren in Eldoret, elevated hypertension, obesity and reduced physical activity are increasingly common.
National data also indicates that cardiovascular diseases account for about one in four hospital admissions and around 13% of autopsy-confirmed deaths.
Meanwhile, the 2015 Kenya STEPwise Survey found that while 45.6% of adults achieved “ideal cardiovascular health,” only 6.4% had poor cardiovascular health, and just 1.2% achieved a perfect score across all seven health metrics.
World Heart Day, held annually on September 29, was established by the World Heart Federation in 2000 to draw attention to cardiovascular disease, which accounts for nearly a third of global deaths.
Public events in Nairobi and Mombasa on Monday included fitness walks, screening tents and talks by health experts on how to reduce risk factors.
