Vietnam has seen an alarming increase of hypertension and heartdisease following its rapid socio-economic development in recentdecades.

At the opening ceremony of the 14thNational Congress of Cardiology in central Da Nang city on October 12,Pham Gia Khai, President of the Vietnam National Heart Association,noted that about 25 percent of the Vietnamese population aged more than25 years suffered from hypertension and heart disease.

He also said the number of people suffering from cardiopathy andhypertension increased from 11.5 percent of the population in 1992 to24.1 percent in 2008, but the figure kept rising while the number ofcardiology hospitals and heart surgeons had yet to match patients’demand.

About 2,000 experts, practitioners andsurgeons, including those from the US, France, Japan, China, Singapore,Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, and Cambodia are taking part in the biennialevent.

About 1,000 reports and researches onhypertension and heart disease, as well as up-to-date technology inheart disease and cardiovascular therapeutics, were presented.

According to General Secretary of the Vietnam National HeartAssociation Pham Manh Hung, about 20 percent of the country’s populationis expected to suffer from cardiovascular diseases and hypertension by2017 if current trends remain the same.

He attributed the increase to rampant feasts and overconsumption of fatty food and alcoholic drinks.

He also pointed to such challenges as the lack of understanding ofbasic cardiovascular health and hypertension in communities anddeficient funding for successful preventive programmes.

The three-day congress also include free heart and hypertensioncheck-ups for Co Tu ethnic minorities in Da Nang, a mass walkathon for ahealthy cardiology community and online heart surgery at Da NangGeneral Hospital.-VNA