Seychellois women face a number of risks with regard to heart problems and other respiratory diseases, even though these are largely preventable, according to speakers at a conference on Cardiovascular Diseases and Women held on Wednesday September 24.

Organised by the Women’s Commission of Seychelles and the health ministry, the conference assembled some 500 participants from various women’s associations and other organisations at the International Conference Centre to learn and discuss the situation of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Seychelles, particularly among women.

Mrs Marja MacGaw, principal secretary for the Ministry of Health, said that CVD in women was not a highly recognised problem among women in Seychelles, with the general perception being that it affected men more so than women.

“While the majority of women identify cancer as their greatest concern, deaths among women due to heart disease are up to eight times higher (than cancer),” said Mrs MacGaw.

Another factor which has painted an inaccurate picture of the CVD situation in Seychelles, she said, is the fact that young women here have a lower initial risk to CVD than men, but conversely have a much higher risk as they get older. 

Increased awareness about such problems, Mrs MacGaw said, was one of the primary goals of the conference.

“Knowledge is useful, but action is what really matters,” she said.  For this reason, she said, ministry personnel were made available to screen attendees for blood pressure and weight before and during the conference.

High blood pressure and obesity, in addition to smoking and bad dietary habits, are some of the main risk factors associated with CVD, Mrs MacGaw noted, meaning that a healthy lifestyle is the best way to prevent heart problems.

Mrs MacGaw said it was the little things – such as walking home after work on certain days or parking one’s car just a little further from the shop than normal – that could mean the difference between a healthy heart and CVD.

In addition to their own health, Mrs MacGaw said that women also play a vital role in providing for the healthy hearts of those close to them.  In Seychelles, women typically do the grocery shopping and cooking for their family, and they also factor prominently in the education of their children.

Julita Fostel, the nurse coordinator for the prevention and control unit for CVD (UPCCVD), said that although there is no cure for CVD, heart problems can be controlled, firstly by preventative measures and a healthy lifestyle. 

However, as the risk of CVD naturally increases with age, Ms Fostel said, medication has proven to be a reliable method of reducing the risk of heart disease.

Bharathi Viswanathan, nursing officer for the UPCCVD, said that while smoking and hypertension were the leading causes of CVD among men, high cholesterol and obesity are much higher risk factors for women.

Smoking, which is attributed to 20 percent of all cases of CVD, is one habit that has mainly been associated with men here.  But Ms Bharathi said that surveys have shown that the number of young females who have experimented with cigarettes is increasing in Seychelles, leading to concerns that smoking could be more prevalent among women in the next decade.

According to the figures from the ministry, almost 75 percent of women older than 45 in Seychelles are considered either overweight or obese based on body mass index (BMI), a formula that calculates a height and weight ratio to determine an ideal weight.

It is an alarming trend that seems to be continuing, said Ms Bharathi, as girls between the age of 5 and 16 have much higher obesity rates than boys.  It has also been shown that men in Seychelles typically get more exercise than women, she said.

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