RVHS celebrates love and heart disease awareness in February

BY GEORGE KAGAME

Rouge Valley Hospital in Scarborough is appealing to its target residents' sense of generosity and romance in a very unique way. Celebrating the month of love and heart disease the entire month.
Beginning this past Valentines day on saturday the community kicked off a month long campaign to increase awareness of heart disease complications in the community and of the necessity to care for their health. This according to Gr. Paul Galiwango a cardiologist with the hospital includes watching their habits that can cause heart disease and then asking them to donate to what the hospital has dubbed "Gift from the heart" campaign that kicked off at both Pickering and Scarborough town centres last saturday.

During the campaign which will end on 28th February residents can purchase a heart at any of the shopping malls located in Scarborough and Pickering for only two dollars, the funds raised will be used to support Rouge Valley Cardiac Care Program. The hospital is renown for its advanced cardiac program and is considered one of the best community hospitals in Ontario.
Speaking about the campaign Dr. Paul Galiwango a cardiologist with the hospital said the hospital is embarking on the drive as its it tries to "underscore the importance of a health lifestyle of its residents", he said that a healthy lifestyle necessary to reduce the risk of heart disease involves walking 30 minutes for five days and avoiding risky habits like smoking. Galiwango further added that the residents also need to increase their intake of health basic foodstuffs like whole grain and diary products, fresh fruit, lean meat and vegetables.

He said heart related complications the hospital receives are representative of the general situation across the country; "a large number of patients we receive here have heart related problems. The most common problem we deal with here is heart failure especially coronary artery symptoms." The hospital is seeking funds to help in maintaining and expanding its nine bed unit and 10 fully monitored inpatient beds
For their part the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation have called on provincial to create a leveled field in regard to food prices such that many more Canadians can have access to health basic foodstuffs as they are crucial in reducing the incidence of heart disease. The foundation noted that provincial governments have policies regulating alcohol prices but the prices of health foodstuffs are left to be determined by market forces and as a result there is increasing number of people that cannot afford them which in turn is increasing heart related health complications in the country.