This World Heart Day is all about how individuals can take action to fuel their hearts and power their lives, sending out the message that your heart is at the heart of your health and it’s easy to give it the care it deserves. 

Just a few simple steps such as eating more healthily, stopping smoking or – in the case of rheumatic heart disease – treating sore throat, can improve heart health and overall well-being.

World Heart Day is the biggest global awareness-raising platform for cardiovascular disease, and is organized by RHD Action founding partner the World Heart Federation. Since it was launched in 2009, it has grown rapidly and RHD Action is pleased and proud to lend our support to this global event as an important part of our work in consigning RHD to the history books.

World Heart Federation CEO and NCD Alliance Vice-Chair, Johanna Ralston: 

"Heart health is at the heart of all health. When you look after your heart it means eating and drinking well, exercising, stopping smoking... all the things that make you not only healthier, but also feel good and able to enjoy your life to the fullest.

"Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability in the world, killing 17.5 million people a year. That's a third of all deaths on the planet and half of all non-communicable disease-related deaths. Around 80% of these deaths are in low- and middle-income countries where human and financial resources are least able to address the CVD burden.

This is especially true of rheumatic heart disease, which affects 32 million people around the world and claims 275,000 lives annually.

"World Heart Day plays a crucial role in changing all of this. It is a vital global platform that we, as well as our members and supporters, can use to raise awareness and encourage individuals, families, communities and governments to take action now. Together we have the power to reduce the burden of, and premature deaths from, CVD, helping people everywhere to live longer, better, heart-healthy lives."

How your organization can help increase the power of World Heart Day 2016

There are a number of ways you can get involved:

• Visit the World Heart Day website to find out more, download the campaign materials and access the online toolkit: www.worldheartday.org
• Post a supportive message on Twitter/Facebook using the campaign hashtags #worldheartday or #poweryourlife to let your followers know about World Heart Day. There are some sample Tweets to use in the online toolkit
• Share a Healthy Heart Selfie using #worldheartday or #healthyheartselfie. Get someone to take a picture of you making a heart with your hands and post it on social media tagging @worldheartfed, @RHDAction or email it to worldheartday@worldheart.org.
• A Heart IQ online quiz has been launched which lets individuals test how much they know about their heart health. You can find the quiz at www.worldheartday.org

For more information about World Heart Day 2016, please visit www.worldheartday.org