World Heart Day 2025: A call to action for India
On World Heart Day 2025, Apollo Hospitals is urging every Indian to adopt a daily discipline of heart-healthy living under the banner Dont Miss a Beat. The message is clear: prevention, timely screening, and lifestyle changes can dramatically reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease, which remains a leading cause of death worldwide. Apollo’s campaign mobilizes individuals, families, workplaces, and communities to prioritize heart health as a continuous habit rather than a reaction to symptoms.
Why this World Heart Day matters now
The theme Dont Miss a Beat aligns with new evidence from Apollo’s Health of the Nation 2025 study. Disturbing as it is, silent cardiovascular risks are increasingly common in people without obvious symptoms. Artery calcification, fatty liver, and sleep apnea are being detected in otherwise healthy individuals. Post-menopausal women show higher risk, calling for tailored screening approaches. Nutritional gaps, including vitamin D and B12 deficiencies and anemia, can sap energy and make it harder to maintain exercise routines. Alarmingly, inactivity is rising among teenagers, jeopardizing flexibility, strength, and balance before they reach adulthood and, with it, long-term heart health.
Regional trends across Apollo’s network
A closer look at major cities reveals a mixed landscape that demands targeted public health strategies:
- Delhi-NCR: hypertension prevalence is climbing, with fatty liver present in about 65% of those screened.
- Mumbai: nearly half of asymptomatic individuals show coronary calcium, and 25% already have obstructive CAD; about 2.5% are under 40.
- Chennai: 29% are diabetic and 37% are pre-diabetic, signaling a strong need for early lifestyle interventions.
- Bengaluru: early-age hypertension and dyslipidemia are being driven by sedentary indoor work hours.
- Hyderabad: over 80% of those with fatty liver are diabetic, and three-fourths of hypertensives also have fatty liver.
- Kolkata: hypertension and diabetes co-exist with hidden anemia and micronutrient deficiencies.
- Lucknow: risk begins early, with 28% of college students overweight and 19% pre-hypertensive.
These patterns underscore a simple truth: prevention is most effective when it begins early and scales across communities.
Apollo Hospitals: Advancing care with proven outcomes
As India’s pioneer in comprehensive cardiac care since 1983, Apollo Hospitals has established benchmarks in outcomes and innovation. The network has completed more than 300,000 heart surgeries with a 99.6% success rate, performed 500+ robotic cardiac procedures, and delivered 500+ TAVI interventions. A team of over 375 cardiologists continues to push for precision medicine and timely intervention, combining trusted clinical judgment with data-led tools to identify risk before symptoms appear.
What individuals and communities can do
The message Dont Miss a Beat is practical and actionable. Apollo emphasizes three pillars: awareness, screening, and action. In households across India, it means checking blood pressure and cholesterol numbers regularly, ensuring adequate sleep, and integrating physical activity into daily life. For those with risk factors—age, family history, or metabolic symptoms—working with a healthcare professional to tailor screening plans is essential. The campaign also calls on schools, workplaces, and local organizations to create environments that promote movement, balanced nutrition, and early referral for suspicious symptoms.
From leadership to everyday life: a shared responsibility
Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group, emphasizes the collective impact of prevention: waiting for symptoms means waiting too long. He notes that when countries embrace prevention as a daily discipline, millions of healthy years can be added and families spared needless loss—one heartbeat at a time. Apollo’s approach fuses accessible care, equity, and prevention with advanced, data-informed tools to find risk early and guide precise treatment.
Looking ahead: protecting every heartbeat
As India marks World Heart Day 2025, Apollo Hospitals reaffirms its commitment to protecting every heartbeat through access, equity, and prevention. The core belief is simple: in the fight against heart disease, prevention is the most powerful medicine. Every beat matters, and with concerted effort across healthcare, workplaces, and communities, India can reduce heart disease burden and add healthy years to millions of lives.
