Stressing the need to adopt precautionary strategies in the fight against heart diseases, President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said that the most common cause leading to Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and heart attacks was wrong lifestyle choices."Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of deaths globally. Among cardiovascular diseases, CAD has the largest stake in taking lives of the people," Mukherjee said while inaugurating a meeting of American Association of Thoracic Surgeons and International Coronary Congress here.The President said that healthcare was a priority area in our country. However, the challenges of meeting the healthcare requirements are acute in the case of developing economies with large populations. "Doctors have a responsibility to work on creating greater awareness about prevention and treatment among the general population. The most common cause leading to CAD and heart attacks are wrong lifestyle choices.
Hence, precautionary strategies have to take centre-stage in the fight against heart diseases," Mukherjee said."Our healthcare sector has to be equipped to not only treat people but also guide them about prevention of medical conditions," he added.Mukherjee said that the International Coronary Congress was a great platform where steps necessary to strengthen our healthcare system into one that is universally accessible, affordable and effective can be discussed. "To build such a system, we require not only a robust healthcare infrastructure, but also trained and motivated personnel," he said. Urging to study the systems prevalent in other nations that have been successful in providing treatment to their entire population, the President said, "Our country is unique on account of the size and geographical spread of our population. Therefore, we have to develop suitable solutions to meet our requirements."