Pedal it out to bring Egypt’s heart beat back

Cairo, Egypt – In commemoration of Heart Awareness Month, and World Heart Day later this month – (29^th  September), the Philips Foundation in collaboration with Philips Egypt and the Egyptian Red Crescent has launched a campaign called Back to Rhythm aimed at creating public awareness around cardiac health in Egypt and increasing the chances of survival of victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).

The campaign takes the form of multiple stakeholder engagements to raise awareness on good heart health including educational programmes centered on encouraging healthy eating, adopting a healthy lifestyle and training on CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) and BLS (Basic Life Support). The campaign encourages public participation in different biking challenges, which will see Philips funding AED’s to public spaces in Cairo.

The Nile Heart Challenge

One of the key pillars of the Back to Rhythm campaign seeks to rally residents of Cairo to participate in online and offline biking challenges, to cycle and reach 6,853 kms, which equals the length of the river Nile – which is the perceived ‘heart of Egypt’, in the Nile Heart Challenge.
 

Stationary bikes will be placed at different strategic locations across Cairo and residents of the city will be encouraged to bike for 10-minutes to raise the required kilometres for the Philips Foundation to provide up to a maximum of 30 AED’s to the Egyptian Red Crescent to place in public spaces across Cairo.

The World Health Organization indicates that Cardiovascular diseases (CVD’s) account for 46% of total deaths in Egypt; CVD’s are a major public health concern with significant social and economic implications in terms of healthcare -needs, lost productivity and premature death.

The disease burden caused by CVDs in particular, is further fueled by adoption of unhealthy lifestyles and eating habits. In fact, the incidence of CVD is fast shifting to the youth; a trend that’s specifically prevalent in the capital city of Cairo and underserved urban communities where fast food and sedentary lifestyles are an increasing reality.

Raising awareness on the growing incidence of CVD; especially SCA and reinforcing the need for a healthy lifestyle and healthy diet are a core component of the Back to Rhythm campaign, which will continue with several different informative and educative programmes in the coming months.