The 11-day heart camp was organized on the occasion of

World Heart Day The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

in September 2014 in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. This is the largest public health event conducted in Nepal till date. It was funded and organized by Dr.

Om Murti Anil Om Murti Anil (; born 31 October 1978) is a Nepalese cardiologist, social worker, author and social media influencer. He is the founder of the National Cardiac Centre and is recognized for his contributions to cardiovascular health awareness in ...

. The event served 6859 individuals. The camp was a blend of three key aspects: free extensive cardiac health checkups, the largest heart health research, and widespread awareness of cardiovascular health. It was conducted to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases and also conduct research on the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in apparently healthy-looking adults of the Kathmandu Valley. The results of the study were published in the ''

Journal of Nepal Health Research Council The ''Journal of Nepal Health Research Council'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed open-access medical journal covering all aspects of medicine, medical education, and public health. It was established in 2003 and is published by the Nepal Health Re ...

(JNHRC), and'' the research was recognized with the "Best Research Paper" award of 2018. Opening ceremony of the 11-day heart camp in September 2014

Background

Volunteers from the 2014 11-day heart camp

Volunteers on the final day of the 11-day heart camp in 2014

The free heart camp was held from September 13 to 23, provided free heart check-ups to 6859 people, making it the largest heart camp ever conducted. The camp provided general health assessments, blood sugar and cholesterol tests, medical counseling, and heart health education. In addition to offering these services, the camp facilitated a research study focused on identifying the causes of heart disease within the population. The findings from the study were released on September 29 of the same year,

, with the goal of educating the public and raising awareness about cardiovascular risks.

Publications and awards

Out of 6,859 individuals, data from 5,530 participants were utilized for research purposes.This heart camp carried significance due to combination of a larger number of participants getting free heart care, awareness campaign, along with data collection for research on heart disease, the major cause of death in lower- and middle-income countries. The results of the study were published in the ''

(JNHRC)'', and in 2018, the research was recognized with the "Best Research Paper" award by Nepal's then

Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

Upendra Yadav Upendra Yadav (; born 12 November 1960) is a Nepalese politician who has twice served as Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and also as the chairman of the People's Socialist Party, Nepal from 2020 until 2023. He was previously a Minister of Hea ...

, during the 5th National summit of Health and population scientists of Nepal.

Research findings

Among 5,530 individuals 59.6% were male. Study was mainly done on youth population of Kathmandu with average age of 38 years. The prevalence of tobacco and alcohol consumption was 29.3% and 32.7%, respectively. Inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables was reported by 75.4% of participants, low physical activity by 61.1%, and 41.3% were either overweight or obese. Additionally, 26.4% had hypertension, 5.3% had diabetes, and 86.9% had dyslipidemia. The findings of the research was published in a

PubMed PubMed is an openly accessible, free database which includes primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institute ...

-indexed journal, offered key insights into cardiovascular health risks within the Nepalese youth population. This research was funded and conducted by the private sector, without government or institutional grants. The 2014 heart camp and the accompanying study marked a significant step in raising

cardiovascular health awareness in Nepal Cardiovascular health awareness in Nepal has improved in recent times. It has emerged as a cost-effective tool for prevention of heart disease in recent years. Background Cardiovascular disease in Nepal, Cardiovascular diseases in Nepal is re ...

. Similar initiatives are being carried out in other low- and middle-income countries (

LMIC A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreemen ...

s), demonstrating the potential impact of free heart health services on improving public health outcomes.

References

{{reflist Health education Health care Awareness days