Nuclear cardiologist, founder and CEO of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean (HIC) Dr Ernest Madu says heart disease has far more crippling social implications than crime.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer during a tour of the heart hospital at the Balmoral Avenue premises, Dr Madu said the situation with heart disease in Jamaica is indicative of the global phenomenon and the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases all over the world, where it is the number one cause of death and disability and has more economic strains than crime.

“Diseases like diabetes, stroke and hypertension represent the largest group of hospital admissions in Jamaica and is a major cause of economic impact in Jamaica. It costs the Government a lot of money. The resources are not universally available and almost everyone is impacted either as a family member, friend of a patient, employer of a patient or employee of a patient. So, everybody is affected. It has more social impact than crime even though it is not seen that way,” Dr Madu said.

He added: “The best way to spiral people into a cycle of poverty is to kill off their parents. If parents die young because of heart disease, children don’t have the resources to move on. Even though every house is barricaded in Jamaica because we are afraid of crime, you’re more likely to be affected by heart disease than crime. But the problem is we don’t barricade our doors against heart disease.”

Further, Dr Madu said, there is no family in Jamaica that has not been affected by heart disease, as a relative may have high blood pressure, diabetes, a stroke or heart attack, but there are many families that have not been affected by crime directly.

He pointed out that more people are worried about crime, which, not underestimating its impact, is less likely to affect them.

“If you ask people what are they most worried about it is crime and yes, it is real. But the person most concerned about crime has a blood pressure of 240/120 and he’s not that concerned about it because he has not been socialised to think that it will do him harm, but he is more likely to suffer harm from that blood pressure than crime,” he explained.

Dr Madu said that while the narrative is changing gradually and commendation has to be given to those making an effort, people need to take cardiovascular screening seriously.

“The average woman is more likely to be affected by heart disease. However, she is more likely to do a mammogram and screen for cancer than do a cardiovascular screen. Majority are undiagnosed, and the risk is always there and as long as risk is there problems will pop up later,” he said.

Added to that, Dr Madu said that the dietary patterns of Jamaicans are not healthy and the starch consumption is high, which leads to obesity.

“About four out of 10 men in Jamaica are overweight or obese and about six out of 10 women face the same problem. There is a cluster of potential risk for heart disease and looming epidemic of cardiovascular disease in Jamaica,” he said. “The issue is those most at risk have the least resources for addressing the problem. With access to health care 80 per cent of global resources are available to 20 per cent of the population. The challenge is to find a way to make health care more universally accessible and available to create a more equitable society.”

Dr Madu added that, that is the goal of HIC even though it is a private facility.

“We need all the support we can get. We open our facility up to everyone and we want to partner with every institution out there,” he said.

The Heart Institute of the Caribbean is the only heart hospital in Jamaica and the Caribbean.