South Africa is certainly not exempt from one of the top 3 causes of death in the world – heart diseases, and in fact, the costs for medical problems related to heart diseases and strokes are over R8 billion every year.

One of the top professors from the University of Cape Town, Professor Anthony Mbewu, says that it’s especially tragic when heart attacks happen to a patient in the prime of life or working as the main bread winner in a family. This is something that is very common in many places in South Africa.

The recent report of The Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa, or HSFSA, revealed that 80% of all cases of heart disease in South Africa are due to smoking, wrong diet and lack of exercise.

The report, written by Professor Krisela Steyn who works with the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town, further clarifies that:

• From 1997 to 2004, 195 South Africans died daily because of a heart-related condition. The report likens this to 13 mini busloads of South African passengers
• 33 South Africans die every day because of heart attacks while 37 die every day from heart failure
• The ratio of men to women suffering and dying from heart attacks is 2:1
• The report implies that chronic heart conditions will overtake AIDS one day unless something is done to reverse the trend through “urgent intervention”
• More than half of the South Africans who die of heart diseases never reach 65
• The prediction of this report states that between 2007 and 2030, premature death due to heart related conditions among South Africans between the ages of 35 to 64 will increase dramatically
• More South Africans of Indian descent are dying from heart conditions than blacks or whites
• On the average, white South Africans who die from heart-related conditions did so because of heart attacks
• On the average black South Africans who die from heart-related conditions did so because of heart muscle problems, stroke, and high blood pressure leading to heart diseases

The Top Heart Diseases in South Africa

The top 3 heart diseases in South Africa according to government figures are:

1. Ischemic heart disease
2. Hypertensive heart disease
3. Inflammatory heart disease

The risk of getting heart disease in South Africa is also listed in the report such as smoking, stress, obesity, poor nutrition, a lazy lifestyle, and unchecked high blood and cholesterol levels.

Also, heart diseases are seen across all ages, gender, and economic status which means no one is safe from heart disease.

The Impact of High Incidents of Heart Diseases in the Country

First of all, the young are dying earlier than expected from cases that could be prevented with proper care. The impact then is going to be felt in a few years and this is what is predicted by South African economists, doctors, and researchers:

• The population will decrease unnecessarily
• The economy will slow down because of lack of manpower, local talent
• Cases of non-infectious diseases will rise
• The government will have a hard time supporting those in need of assistance and financial aid
• Poverty will increase since more men are at risk from heart diseases which affects the household income where the male is the primary breadwinner