Photo used for illustrative purpose.

The UAE heart failure treatment drugs market was estimated to be valued at $62.8 million in 2020 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 6.5% between the 2020 to 2027 period.

Despite significant advances in treatment, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), sometimes referred to as heart dieseases, remain the leading cause of death worldwide, causing one out of three deaths globally. It causes more than 18 million deaths each year, with numbers predicted to rise to nearly 24 million by 2030.

Factors such as smoking, central obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and physical inactivity remain the leading risk factors of heart disease both globally and regionally. The COVID-19 pandemic also lead to a spike in heart disease cases, erasing years of progress.

“Despite these factors, tremendous efforts have been taken by Ministries and health authorities across the world and indeed here in the Gulf, to raise awareness around heart disease and help mitigate risk against the disease."

"In the UAE for example, the wise leadership’s commitment to building a world class health system with the aim of improving the quality of healthcare and the health outcomes for its population, has seen it lead the way in ensuring faster access to treatment for patients by accelerating delivery of medication to the region.

"Healthcare organisations across the region are also promoting the importance of early screening and diagnosis, which is helping to both curb risk factors associated with heart disease, and support the improvement of the healthcare system overall,” said Mohamed Ezz Eldin, Head of Innovative Medicines at Novartis Gulf.

Heart failure, sometimes also known as congestive heart failure, is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscles are unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen. It is often the result of damage or injury to the heart caused by other heart problems - such as narrowed arteries - and high blood pressure. 

It is also important to remember that heart failure is a long-term condition that tends to get worse over time as the heart becomes too weak or stiff to fill and pump blood properly.

Symptoms that can indicate heart failure that everyone must be aware of include shortness of breath; fatigue and weakness; swelling in your legs, ankles and feet; rapid or irregular heartbeat; persistent cough or wheezing; swelling of your abdomen; sudden weight gain; lack of appetite and nausea; and difficulty concentrating or a decreased alertness.

Not every condition that cause heart failure can be actually reversed, but there are treatments that can improve the symptoms of heart failure and enable the person to live longer. One way to prevent heart failure is to prevent and control conditions that can cause it, such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. For this, it is very important to make lifestyle changes such as losing weight, exercising regularly, reducing salt in your diet, and managing stress effectively.

Moving ahead into 2023, a key focus for us will remain on raising awareness about heart failure and how 80% of premature heart disease and strokes are preventable. We will also continue to highlight the urgent need to invest in heart health and healthcare systems, to improve the outcomes for all those that are impacted.

Lastly, we are also looking into new and transformative approaches that are needed to proactively predict, prevent and better treat heart disease. For this, we are collaborating on innovative health approaches that go beyond medicines to reduce heart disease and its impact—equitably and at scale.

“Our goal at Novartis is to reimagine medicine for heart failure patients. That’s why our cardiovascular and metabolic disease researchers are developing a diverse portfolio of approaches to prevent, slow, or reverse these conditions. They use every tool at their disposal to better understand the root causes of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, discover and develop drugs against relevant targets, and better identify patients by prognosis and mechanism to provide them with maximum benefit at minimum risk,” said Eldin.

He concluded, “We will also continue to leverage our strategic partnerships to raise awareness about heart failure across the UAE and the region. Towards this end, we had partnered with the Emirates Cardiac Society (ECS) for the ‘Your Heart Can’t Wait’ campaign last year, which sought to educate residents across the emirates on the symptoms of heart failure, and how delaying diagnosis and treatment puts them at risk of recurrent hospitalisations that can be fatal. Several leading healthcare providers in the UAE participated in the campaign to ensure that patients had access to the right information and were empowered to make the right decisions regarding their treatment. The campaign, we delivered a strong and important message that a proper cardiac evaluation, along with some simple lifestyle changes, can go a very long way in improving heart health and reducing the risk of heart failure.”