Reaching more communities
- UK South Asians are 50% more likely to die prematurely from heart disease than the general population.
- Two research studies were awarded by the BHF in 05/06 to look at physical activity and health in children from specific ethnic groups.
Reaching more communities
Around 3 million South Asians currently live in the UK, and they are particularly vulnerable to heart disease. Premature death rates from the disease are 51% higher than the national average in women and 46% higher in men.
High salt intake and smoking are a particular danger to those in high-risk groups. According to Peter Hollins, the British Heart Foundation’s Director General: “Research shows that smoking doubles the risk of developing heart disease, and that salt raises blood pressure, which can treble the risk.”
Action
In September last year the BHF, with funding from the Food Standards Agency, launched the Healthy Ramadan Campaign. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn till dusk every day, and attend mosques most frequently. In the month leading up to Ramadan the BHF trained 200 Imams to motivate members of their communities to address the health risks associated with heart disease. The initiative was designed to help people make healthy lifestyle choices, such as reducing salt intake, quitting smoking, eating a balanced diet and taking more exercise.
The campaign featured throughout the Asian media, with TV ads in English, Urdu and Bengali, discussion programmes, specialist dietitians giving tips on how to reduce salt in traditional cooking, and a healthy recipe competition. This was supported by a poster campaign which featured messages on the importance of health and a healthy diet.
The campaign also featured a wide range of free quit smoking phonelines in eight languages, where people could receive expert advice and support from trained counsellors. Ramadan was a good time to help Muslims quit. Smoking is not allowed during fasting and the four-week period is an ideal start for staying smoke-free.
Impact
The BHF is confident that the 2005 campaign will have built on the success of previous years and we are awaiting the results of an evaluation to judge how far awareness of heart disease has been raised and the degree to which lifestyles have changed.
Next steps
The 2006 Healthy Ramadan Campaign will target more communities through mosques including Turks, Kurds, Black Muslims and Somalis. We will train 250 Imams to deliver health messages to their congregations in seven UK major cities.
We will continue to raise awareness by attending the ten major Melas – festivals which bring communities together to celebrate events such as the start of spring.
New resources will become available in 2006/07: two booklets – Angina and What You Can Do About It and Diabetes and Heart Disease – both available in five South Asian languages; a low-fat recipe book; and a DVD about managing cholesterol levels.
The BHF hopes to increase ethnic diversity in its Hearty Voices patient groups and Patient Advisory Group.The initial pilot of the Hearty Voices outreach programme will take place in Manchester – working closely with the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Cardiac Network to look at how South Asians can be supported to participate in this essential activity.
Crucially, we will continue funding research into the key question of why South Asian communities have a higher prevalence of heart disease.