This is how we can take care of our hearts to reduce cardiovascular deaths

ECG background with human heart. [Getty Images]

Imagine you are going about your day when suddenly you feel an unbearable pain in the chest. You struggle to breathe and fall to the floor in a heap as people around you watch helplessly. Traumatising, right?

Well, that was the reality in 2023 for about 3.8 per cent of the world population under 60 years and 9.5 per cent of the global population aged over 60 years. All of them were victims of myocardial infarction, commonly referred to as heart attack. In Kenya, over 50 per cent of people suffering from heart attacks die before arrival at the hospital, and for those who do make it to hospital, 21 per cent do not survive.