BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW AND BERNICE BORN
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the world’s number one killer, causes the deaths of 17.5 million people each year. In response, WiRED International updated its Heart Diseases Module, a comprehensive educational course for general audiences.
CVDs are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels — including heart disease and stroke, which cause the majority of deaths. The WiRED module covers coronary heart disease, heart attack, congestive heart failure and congenital heart disease. Treatment and symptoms depend on what kind of heart disease a person has. The module stresses preventive measures for heart disease, which include abstaining from tobacco, limiting alcohol, maintaining low cholesterol, controlling high blood pressure, staying at a healthy weight, exercising, eating lots of fruits and vegetables, and being mindful of age and family history.
WiRED’s Health Learning Center contains an entire collection of training materials on cardiology, including modules on stroke, high blood pressure, rheumatic heart disease (RHD), a nurse training series on RHD diagnosis and heart sounds in children.
Seventy-five percent of CVD deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries. WiRED believes that offering training materials at no charge on heart disease will enable people in underserved communities worldwide to enrich their knowledge of heart-related issues and to allow them to contribute more effectively to their own healthcare.