United Nations Observes International Day for Interventional Cardiology on September 16

Key facts

• The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 16 September as the International Day for Interventional Cardiology in September 2022 to raise public awareness of cardiovascular diseases, their procedures, complications, prevention and care.
• The first coronary angioplasty was performed by Dr. Andreas Grüntzig on 16 September 1977.
• Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally, with an estimated 17.9 million deaths in 2019, representing 32 per cent of all global deaths, of which 85 per cent were due to heart attack and stroke.
• Non-communicable diseases, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease, are collectively responsible for almost 70 per cent of all deaths worldwide.
• Over three quarters of deaths from cardiovascular diseases take place in low- and middle-income countries.
• The World Health Organization's Global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013-2020 aims to reduce premature deaths from non-communicable diseases by 25 per cent by 2025 through nine voluntary global targets.