Cardiologist Dr Handel Emery said that trends suggest an increase in risk factors for cardiovascular disease that could result in a higher incidence of heart disease among the population. Photo: Jamaican Gleaner

Cardiovascular disease accounts for an average of 30 per cent of deaths in Jamaica annually, and according to at least one medical professional, the situation will worsen to epidemic proportions if locals do not adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Cardiologist Dr Handel Emery said that trends suggest an increase in risk factors for cardiovascular disease that could result in a higher incidence of heart disease among the population.

Citing a rise in the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity among Jamaicans, Emery warned that the disturbing trends suggest that the country is “on the cusp of an epidemic of cardiovascular disease”.

“It’s quite likely that in another 20, 30 years we will be having a lot of patients struggling with conditions like heart attack, angina, heart failure as a result of this. That concerns me a lot, and it’s something that we do need to address and do need to address with some urgency,” Emery said.

The consultant cardiologist made those comments on Friday in an interview with The Gleaner during the formal opening of the Winchester Heart Centre in St Andrew.

While acknowledging the work of the Ministry of Health and the Heart Foundation in urging people to exercise and eat healthy, the medical doctor said that it will take some time before it is known whether they were effective.

“I think we are [doing enough], from a marketing standpoint we are. We are educating persons, we are providing persons with the information that they need to make the right decisions. I think what we now need, though, is for them to actually make those decisions and to actually embrace the healthy lifestyles that we are encouraging them to do.

He believes that the rewards of the current aggressive campaign against unhealthy consumption will not be apparent until, perhaps, a generation.

In 2016, non-communicable disease accounted for 12,577, or 68.4 per cent, of the 18,373 deaths for Jamaicans five years and older.