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 Rotary-MMM Healthy Hearts Programme
 The Healthy Hearts - Health Education Programme for Secondary School students in
Chennai was inaugurated in the city on 26th August, 2004, by Rotarian Benjamin Chcrian, District Governor,
RI Dist 3230.
District Governor RI Dist 3230,
Rotary Club of Madras Temple City and The
Madras Medical Mission have come together to launch this unique
prognunme targeted at the age group of 16 to 18 years.
Welcoming the gathering, Rotarian Pradeep Bhandari, President. Rotary Club of Madras Temple
City, said. "Our club has always been involved in programmes for the development of youth be it adoption of Corporation and
Panchayat schools or scholarships for deserving
students or comprehensive health care.
Lifestyle diseases like
heart attacks, High Blood Pressure and
Diabetes are silent killers. Given the Indian conditions, per capita income and awareness levels, education is the need of the hour and we hope this project will fill this need gap."
Branded Healthy Hearts the programme, is planned in the backdrop of WHO's report which predicts that India will be a Time Bomb of people with lifestyle diseases like Cardio Vascular Diseases, Diabetes, . Cancer and Aids. The incidence of these conditions ccan be controlled to a great extent through
cduca.tion of the comrrl.unity."
Inaugurating the programme, Rtn. Benjamin Cherian, District Governor, RI Dist. 3230, said, "The Rotary movement has played an important role in eradication of Polio in India. I am sure that the enthusiasm and dedication of Rotarians will make this programme as successful as the earlier successful endeavours."
The two-hour programme, conducted by a team of experienced doctors from
MMM, comprises a brief presentation on the cause and effect of current lifestyle and the remedies prescribed for the same, followed by demos of life saving techniques like Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation and First Aid. There is also a segment on amazing facts about the human heart and origin of various treatments.
Speaking at the function, Jacob Kumaresan. Senior Consultant. World Health Organisation, said, ""Students form an important segment of this community as they are in their young adulthood, taking their own decisions and also playing a role of an influencer in ihe family."
"By sensitising this active segment of our community, we believe that we can undo a great deal of damage, which currently exists and also sow the seeds of healthy lifestyle in the young minds," he said.
The institution plans to have monthly interactive programmes in the follow-up to these workshops in which children would be encouraged to voluntarily register and participate in various activities where they would be taught to lead healthy lifestyles and to evangelise the
sa.me.
Commenting on the programme, Dr. A J Rajendran, Consultant,.MMM Hospital, said, "The entire programme is planned in a user-friendly, interactive format in order to make it interesting and relevant to the target audience."
This programme will be first implemented in Chennai and will later be taken to other schools in the state.
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