Jagat Narula: Connecting Cardiovascular Health and Sickle Cell Disease on World Heart Day 2026
Jagat Narula, President of World Heart Federation, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Don’t miss a beat. Don’t miss a heart.
Last year, we were in Puttaparthi, India, on the World Heart Day. And Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Science in glows bright Red again after a year.
And, this year, Abuja, Nigeria to the center stage on World Heart Day 2026, where I joined hands with VP- Prof. Amam Mbakwem.
The World Heart Federation had declared 2026 the Year of Neglected Cardiovascular Diseases: affecting an estimated 100 million people, yet too often left behind by the extraordinary progress of modern cardiovascular medicine. Diseases do not neglect people. We do. Neglect is not biology. It is a choice. And choices can be changed.
Yet simultaneously, diseases considered to afflict affluent nations—hypertension, diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, coronary disease and stroke are increasing, often in younger populations and in health systems least equipped for their lifelong consequences.
The old diseases have not disappeared. The new ones have already arrived. That is the double burden we must confront.
And this year, our cardiovascular family must widen further. At UNGA81, Nigeria helped launch OneSCD. Some 150,000 Nigerian babies are born with sickle cell disease each year. It begins in the blood, but its consequences reach the brain, lungs and heart, stroke, pulmonary hypertension, myocardial disease, arrhythmias, thrombosis and sudden death.
These children must belong to us too. Hematology remains their home. Cardiovascular medicine should become their second home.
And hope can be surprisingly practical: Newborn screening. Transcranial Doppler. Hydroxyurea. Nigeria helped create the science; now we must get the science to every child who needs it.
But Africa‘s cardiovascular future cannot be only about treating disease. We must prevent another epidemic from becoming entrenched. Economic and social transition must not inevitably bring unhealthy habits; Development should buy health, not disease.
And let us change one more narrative. Nigeria and Africa should not be viewed simply as places where the burden is greatest. Let them become places where solutions begin and where ideas travel from Abuja, Kano and Lagos to the world. That, for me, is World Heart Day 2026.
Don’t miss a beat. Don’t miss a heart. Don’t leave anyone behind.
And when I was speaking to the Nigerian Heart enthusiasts, it truly became emotional. Please see enclosed in the comments, verbatim!”
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