He said: "If a correct strategy is not formulated right now, then the country will have the highest death rate due to cardiac diseases by the year 2020."
"High blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, diabetes and obesity are included in the top ten modifiable risk factors to develop CHD and fortunately, we can reverse the trend by adopting healthy diet and lifestyle, especially from childhood."
PREVENTIVE STEPS: He said that a person could be saved from cardiac diseases by taking five preventive measures. These include less fat in diet, minimum use of butter, cheese, sugar and white sugar, less use of salt and by avoiding smoking.
Farooqui said that in western countries, people over 60 years suffer from heart attack, whereas in Pakistan, people over 40 to 50 years suffer from the same.
He regretted that cardiac problems are on the rise in the country, but a very few hospitals have the facilities to deal with such cases. He said most of the cardiac deaths occurred due to non-availability of standard facilities in hospitals and on the way to the hospital.
The VC of the DUHS, Professor Masood Hameed Khan, while speaking on the occasion mentioned the achievements of the university.
He said the university had got 500 new posts sanctioned from the concerned authorities for post-graduate students working in DUHS affiliated hospitals. These students would be paid stipend from July 2004.
He said funds for stipend for 500 posts would be released by the AG office in next 15 days and would be paid to the postgraduate students. He said the university was also making efforts to get sanctioned another 500 posts for post-graduate students.
"Faculty will be beefed up, especially in basic medical sciences, and recruitment process will be completed in February 2005. We will also launch PhD programme in February 2005," he added.
He said that DUHS has taken up many new projects as well for improvement of the existing facility, including burns centre in CHK, renovation of Radiology Department, establishment of Sarwar Zuberi Lever Centre and Computer Learning Resource Centre and also construction of new building of Administration Block is in process.