The Heart Foundation in collaboration with Editiel company and several stakeholders is organising the fourth edition of Salon of Health, Welfare and Sports this weekend at the Swami Vivekananda Convention Centre in Pailles.
It will open from 9.30am to 7pm and entrance fee is Rs25 for adults while children under 12 are admitted free. Free buses will be available to the public from Rose Hill bus station and Victoria bus station in Port Louis to the centre. The organisers are expecting around 50,000 visitors this year.
“Visitors will have the opportunity to learn all about health through 100 stands. They will be able to communicate with health professionals and representatives from hospitals, private clinics, the pharmaceutical industry, patient associations, insurance, health, well-being and many other services,” the organisers said.
Visitors to the two-day event will be able to discuss several issues affecting children, including malnutrition, diseases, abuse, among others. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn to cook food without oil.
Dr Sunil Gunness, a cardiac surgeon and director of the Cardiology Centre in Pamplemousses and President of the Heart Foundation, explained that each year 17.5 million people die from heart diseases.
The aim of the salon is to raise public awareness of the major risk factors for these diseases and ways to combat them, for example by monitoring weight and exercising.
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading causes of death in Mauritius. And in 2009, cardiovascular diseases contributed to one-third of all deaths worldwide.
This year heart diseases are the leading cause of death in developing countries, yet the problem can be largely prevented and controlled, says Dr Gunness.