It's World Heart Day today. How safe healthy is your heart?

Today Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate the World Heart Day under the theme "Power your Life." The World Heart Day, which is commemorated annually on September 29 around the world, is to raise awareness about heart diseases and their dangers.

According to a statement from the ministry of health, Stroke, Hypertension, Rheumatic heart disease, heart attacks, blood clots and congenital heart diseases are the commonest cardiovascular diseases in Uganda.

To counter the health problem, the ministry established the Uganda Heart Institute to undertake and coordinate the management of cardiovascular diseases in Uganda.

According to the statement, much as the Institute deals with complicated heart diseases including referrals from the East African region and boasts of state of the art infrastructure such as the Cardiac Catheterisation theatre suite, there is need to reduce referrals abroad.

Consequently, there are plans to upgrade the institute to the Uganda Institute of Cardiothoracic Diseases.

"It will have three operating theatres conducting routine open-heart surgery operations, an Intensive Care Unit and research facilities," reads the statement.

Meanwhile, to educate the public about heart diseases, the institute carries out medical camps and outreach visits to the 13 regional referral hospitals, such as Arua, Lira and Mbarara hospitals among others.

The Ministry of Health also urges the public to adopt healthy living lifestyles by avoiding tobacco use, eating health foods with less fat, sugar and salt, regular physical activity, avoiding alcohol abuse and having regular medical/health checks.