The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados

This non-profit organisation was originally founded in 1985 as the Heart Foundation of Barbados and in 2006 became the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados. The Foundation receives no funding from government as it is a non-governmental organisation and is heavily reliant upon donations and fees from the public of Barbados.

 

The Foundation materialised as a result of shared initiatives of The Lions Club of Barbados South, through its Health and Social Services Committee, then under the chairmanship of Mr. H. (Dru) Symmonds SCM, J.P., and Professor Trevor Hassell, Cardiologist, who was that time Head of the Department of Medicine and of the Cardiac Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados.

 

According to the Chief Medical Officer of Health, diseases associated with the heart and blood vessels are highly responsible for the cause of death internationally and such is the same with Barbados. As a result of this finding, the Heart Foundation of Barbados has combined the various efforts associated with physicians and laymen to voluntarily address this leading health problem.

 

Its motto "Everybody has a heart" loudly expresses the importance of healthy living as an essential aspect of our daily lives.

 

Mission Statement

Our Mission is to keep people heart healthy and reduce suffering and death from heart disease and stroke.


Aims and Objectives

• Developing a broad scientific and medical programme in the field of heart disease designed to seek new knowledge, disseminate new and existing knowledge and apply it for the benefit of persons suffering from these diseases.
   
• Engaging in a nation wide programme of public education and awareness to inform people regarding the importance of heart disease as a problem and what can be done to prevent or control it.
   
• Developing a nation wide organisation through which these purposes may be realised.
   
• Securing the funds needed to finance the Foundation's programmes and operations by appropriate methods.

 

Heart Disease - Diseases of the Coronary Arteries

The Heart muscle or Myocardium is supplied by a number of medium sized arteries that take oxygen-bearing blood to the working muscle. These vessels are known as the Coronary Arteries. Various abnormalities may cause narrowing of the vessels sufficient to reduce the blood flow to the point at which, symptoms develop. Referred to as coronary artery diseases, these abnormal conditions then give rise to Ischemic Heart Disease.

 

There are two basic types

• In one type, the blood flow may be reduced to a level at which the oxygen demands of the working muscle exceed the available supply. The set of symptoms that most commonly arise in this situation is called angina.
   
• In the other type, the blood flow may be practically entirely blocked off by a clot or Thrombus forming in the vessel. In this case, the segment of the myocardium, which is supplied by this particular vessel, dies from lack of blood supply. The consequence is more serious and often catastrophic. This is an Acute Myocardial Infarction, and is generally what is meant by the term "Heart Attack".

 

Further information on The Barbados Heart and Stroke Foundation, #3 Railway View, Ladymeade Gardens, Jemmotts Lane, St. Michael, BB11156 can be sourced at the following website http://www.hsfbarbados.org. Telephone (246) 437-3312/427-8031, Fax: (246) 430-9898 or Email: enquiries@hsfbarbados.org.

 
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