The campaign “Keep Your Heart On,” organized by the Portuguese Society of Cardiology (SPC) in collaboration with the Directorate-General of Health, aims to highlight the significant impact of cardiovascular diseases on the population’s quality of life and mortality rates.
“It has become somewhat cliché to say that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Portugal, interestingly more so among women than men,” stated the president of the SPC, Cristina Gavina, emphasizing the understanding that deaths from cardiovascular diseases are “premature mortality.”
Recognizing that advancing age increases the risk of cardiovascular mortality due to a higher probability of disease, Gavina noted: “Mortality before the age of 65 is particularly dominated by cardiovascular disease, and these are active individuals who had ample opportunity for prevention.”
The lights that will go out at the Estádio da Luz tonight aim to represent the “33,000 hearts that effectively cease every year and that 80% of the cardiovascular disease burden could be prevented.”
“If we had taken measures throughout our lives, this wouldn’t be happening,” she added, stressing the importance of individuals being aware of their risk factors to control them.
In addition to turning off the lights at the stadium at the start of the game and showing a video on the importance of prevention to reduce these avoidable deaths, ‘vouchers’ will be distributed to allow individuals to get free screenings and learn their “three magic numbers”: blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels.
This data will enable, on the campaign site, the gathering of other information to estimate cardiovascular risk.
The campaign will be present at a football stadium on each day of the 7th round of the Liga Portugal.
Cristina Gavina reminds that risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol are modifiable as long as they are known. “If we don’t know the numbers, they don’t hurt, make no difference, and people won’t monitor them,” she added.
A study conducted in 22 Portuguese municipalities, revealed in 2024, showed more than 700,000 Portuguese over 50 living with heart failure, with 90% unaware of their condition.
Asked about the difficulty in accessing screenings through primary care—over 1.5 million people lack a family doctor—the SPC president urged everyone to take advantage of such campaigns, stating the intention to expand these screening initiatives nationwide.
“It is expected that people from the age of 40 undergo these screenings, but coverage is clearly insufficient,” said the specialist, recalling that people “are not sensitized” and think “it is something that occurs later in life.”
“It’s not true,” said the representative, adding: “It happens increasingly earlier, with unfortunately tragic examples, such as the one that happened to Jorge Costa [former player of Futebol Clube do Porto].”
Cristina Gavina insists on the importance of individuals becoming aware of the risk they face: “Nowadays, a person admitted with an acute myocardial infarction stays in the hospital for three days, undergoes a catheterization, everything went wonderfully, they take several medications home and don’t even realize they were in a life-threatening situation.”
She advocates that each citizen must take health prevention into their own hands and not rely solely on healthcare professionals: “I hope people understand they have an increased responsibility for their health and life. (…). They must take control of their life, which involves knowing their risk.”
The campaign, which will run until the end of the year, is part of World Heart Day, marked on Monday.
