As is the case in the rest of the world, the increase in blood flow-related illnesses continues to remain one of the priority public health system issues that, according to Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, begs for prioritization and solution.

According to the official 2011 data provided by the State Information Analysis Center on Health Maintenance as well as National Statistics Bureau, the distribution of the death rates from non-infectious diseases in the Republic of Armenia has the following picture:  blood flow-related illnesses make up 48 percent, malignant cancerous formations - 19.9 percent, diabetes - 4.8 percent, injuries and poisoning - 4.9 percent.

It turns out that in 2011, the death-to-occurrence ratio for blood-related illnesses is roughly 2:7 (the distribution of blood-related illnesses among the population is 17.3 percent).  Hypertension, acute heart failure, and stroke seem to have the highest rates of occurrence.

“This is a direct result of the population’s risky behavior.  As of 2009, studies show that the rate of smoking is still extremely high among adults.  Obesity, lack of physical exercise, and inactivity, as well as little attention to continued high blood pressure are some of the other problems,” declares a health official from the ministry.

As a reminder, September 29 has been designated as the International Heart Day since 2000. According to the data provided by the World Health Organization, blood vessel-related illnesses by far are the number one cause of death globally. Stroke and heart attack alone cause 17.3 million deaths worldwide every year.  That rate grows year by year and is forecasted to result in 23 million deaths per year by 2030. That is more than the population of Australia. The International Heart Federation reports that as much as 80 percent of the deaths caused by stroke and heart disease can be avoided if the fundamental risk factors (smoking, unhealthy diet and lack of physical exercise) are eliminated.