A multi-sponsor program aiming to train cardiologists for China has benefited nearly 20,000 Chinese citizens, according to the program's first annual meeting held in Beijing on Saturday.

National Healthy Heart Program (NHHP), organized by American Project HOPE (Health Opportunities to People Everywhere) and sponsored by Medtronic Inc., was launched in December 2002. It provides professional guidance to cardiologists, doctors and nurses who take care of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases.

Eighty-two senior cardiologists and experienced medical workers from major Chinese hospitals volunteered to participate in NHHP. They will help junior cardiologists and medical workers better diagnose cardiovascular diseases and educate patients about heart diseases.

Upon completion of the NHHP program, participants are expected to spread their knowledge to the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases to a broader audience, their patients, colleagues and residents in their communities.

So far, NHHP has directly trained 234 cardiologists and 344 community doctors and indirectly helped 17,907 Chinese citizens through the efforts made by the NHHP participants.

"It is better to teach people to fish than feeding them with fish," said Ellen Paquette, Project HOPE director in Asia-Pacific and Middle-East Region, while commenting on the significance of the program.

Statistics from World Health Organization (WHO) from 1999 showed that 60 percent of the deaths from disease were caused by chronic diseases. The figure is expected to climb to 73 percent in 2020.

In China, cardiovascular problems have become the fastest growing non-communicable disease (NCD) and the No.1 killer of the country's urban dwellers, China CDC director Wang Yu said in Beijing on Saturday.

"China is making tremendous efforts to further complete the network monitoring chronicle medical problems such as cardiovascular diseases," said Wang.

In order to address NCDs, the Chinese government has attached great importance to cooperation with foreign and international non-governmental organizations and individuals.

"Cooperation with foreign organizations such as Project HOPE provides us with a new way to tackle NCDs and will contribute greatly to China's prevention and control of other NCDs," said Qi Xiaoqiu, director-general of disease prevention and control department of Ministry of Health, while commenting on NHHP's "training of the trainers" methodology here.

Project HOPE is a non-governmental organization founded in the United States in 1958, aiming to provide medical assistance to developing countries across the globe and help the needed to study on public health policies. The American organization entered China in 1983 and currently has a number of cooperation programs with Chinese medical and health institutions and organizations.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2004)