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6th International Teaching Seminar of Isfahan Healthy Heart Program
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Download Professor Lown's biography (Zipped Powerpoint)
Download Professor Gordon R. Thompson's Powerpoint presentation (zipped)
Opening remarks
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests and colleagues, welcome to 6th International Teaching Seminar of Isfahan Healthy Heart Program.
Non-communicable diseases continue to take a heavy toll on human life. Thousands of lives are lost every year to conditions which are scientifically proven to be preventable.
As demonstrated by studies worldwide, even with modest resources, community-based interventions show promise in reducing the risk for cardiovascular disease.
Isfahan Healthy Heart Program (IHHP) is one such initiative, which began with the intention of stemming the tide of cardiovascular diseases in the region.
The goal of this seminar is to review what has been accomplished during 5 years of community-based interventions in the cities of Isfahan and Najaf-Abad, and to promote the exchange of experience and knowledge in the field of prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors in particular.
The IHHP teaching seminar combines lectures and theoretical discussion with field visits to venues of interventions to give you a better idea of what has been done so far.
You can talk face-to-face with the people who conducted the interventions and many others who received them.
Our colleagues from Oman represented by the Honorable Dr. Jafar Abdolrahim are now working with us on a similar project in their country. They have had frequent visits to IHHP and developed fresh and innovative ideas their own.
Group discussions after field visits have always offered a great forum for exchange of viewpoints between the participants and project managers and helped us enormously in improving our work.
The massive body of scientific evidence in the field of community-based programs for NCD prevention and control comes from developed countries. Another goal of IHHP is to obtain such evidence in a developing country setting.
This program has the potential to offer a model which can be replicated in other developing countries, especially those in the EMR region, with cultural and socioeconomic characteristics similar to Iran.
On behalf of the organizers of this event, allow me to express the interest of all Iranian academia in maintaining a steady scientific cooperation with the international community, in spite of differences in the world of politics.
The presence of guests from the United States of America, participating in this seminar at their own will, testifies to the mutual and continued willingness of members of the scientific community to continue scientific collaboration, with the potential to alleviate the health burdens on humanity, the most striking examples of which are non-communicable diseases like CVDs, diabetes and cancers.
Our sincerest thanks go to the Iranian Ministry of Healthy, represented here by the Honorable Prof. Malek Afzali, Deputy Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education for Research and Technology, Isfahan Province Health Center, the Vice-Chancellery for Research of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, the World Health Organization represented by the Honorable Dr. Mobasher Sheikh, the World Heart Federation, and other International organizations.
In the first half of this morning, we will have the following presentations.
His Excellency Prof. Shirani, the Chancellor of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences will address the opening session with his welcoming speech.
Next, the Honorable Governor General of Isfahan Province will address the seminar.
He will be followed by Prof. Malek Afzali, the Honorable Deputy Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education for Research and Technology, who will talk about the situation of NCDs in Iran.
Afterwards the Honorable Dr. Mobasher Sheikh, WHO representative to Iran will address the seminar.
And later we will watch a recorded message from Professor Bernard Lown, Emeritus Professor in Cardiology in Harvard University, Boston; his presentation will be followed by a Persian translation.
And just before the break, we will have time for a few photographs.
With these few remarks, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to call upon His Excellency Prof. Shirani, the Chancellor of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences to address the opening session.

Chancellor's message
I would like to welcome the distinguished guests and colleagues to the 6th International Teaching Seminar on Isfahan Healthy Heart Program.
Securing and sustaining the health of the community plays an undeniable role in the advance and development of societies. For years now, known organizations and institutions throughout the world have been operating towards this end.
Fortunately, Iran enjoys efficient organizations which are constantly striving to promote community health and the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education has always served as the custodian of health in the community.
The performance of the different subsections of the Health Ministry changes according to the current priorities and requirements of the community.
There was a time when all resources were focused on containment of communicable diseases such as typhoid, cholera, etc. Today, disease patterns, as well as the causes of mortality and morbidity have changed in many countries, including Iran.
Non-communicable diseases are posing as the biggest health challenges of all time.
According to studies thus far conducted, cardiovascular diseases constitute the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in Iran, accounting for more than 40% of deaths.
A closer inspection of the community's health status shows that non-communicable diseases risk factors have expanded on a par with the vast positive changes and social development of the past few years.
Reduced physical activity, unhealthy nutrition, stress and smoking are now inextricably linked to urban lifestyle, leading to increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, as well as other non-communicable diseases such as cancers, pulmonary diseases, osteoporosis, etc.

The number of people afflicted by non-communicable, yet potentially fatal conditions such as hypertension, blood lipid disorders, diabetes mellitus, etc. is on the rise and the incidence of cardiovascular accidents and strokes has increased accordingly. There is alarming evidence showing the lowering age of onset of such diseases.
Based on the latest estimates, nearly a fifth of the Iranian population, especially in urban areas, suffer from hypertension. A third of individuals have blood lipid disorders, seven percent are diabetics, and half are overweight or obese and close to 90% of people have inadequate physical activity. Therefore, the high prevalence of cardiovascular accidents and strokes is far from surprising.
Moreover, physical disabilities and loss of life resulting from these diseases weighs heavily on national economy. Today, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education is focusing a considerable amount of its financial and human resources on programs and measures aimed at containing non-communicable diseases.
Isfahan Province has been on the frontline of defense against the onslaught of non-communicable diseases. Isfahan Healthy Heart Program is indeed the pilot version of a national program for lifestyle modification aimed at control and prevention of non-communicable diseases in Iran. This program has performed multiple interventions at the community level to achieve the said objectives.
Owing to certain important features, this program has been viewed as a model, both inside Iran and in a number of developing countries. Unlike many other programs, Isfahan Healthy Heart Program has not remained content with educational campaigns. In addition to providing education for specific target groups, the largest part of the program's interventions have been focused on practical interventions for lifestyle improvement, as well as environmental changes, legislation and policy making.
Furthermore, this program adopts a problem-based approach backed by needs assessment to address problems affecting the community at different junctures.
Another notable feature of this program is its integration with a scientific system of process evaluation which begins with the each intervention. Results of evaluations at different levels are used to develop intervention policies and correct the trend of activities.
From the very beginning, this program based its operations on team work and intersectoral collaboration. Isfahan Healthy Heart Program is perhaps the best example of cooperation between two centers affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.
These two centers, namely Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center and Isfahan Province Health Center started a productive cooperation in furthering common objectives. Thus far, these two centers have made remarkable achievements in the implementational phase of the program thanks to consolidated team work.
Intersectoral collaboration has played an important part in advancing program goals; many governmental and nongovernmental organizations and institutions have forged fruitful bonds of cooperation with the program, in so far as many of the officials heading these governmental or non-governmental bodies have become personally involved in the interventional projects as project managers.
Another strength of this program rests in the support afforded to it by the World Health Organization. The program has been supported by the WHO and its project managers are in constant contact with this organization. The program managers have also been in contact with several reputable academic and research centers worldwide and news of Isfahan Healthy Heart Program and the progress it is making has been the subject of several news reports.
Given the key role of various organizations in advancing the goals of the program, I extend my thanks to all responsible officials and colleagues from these organizations. On behalf of project managers, I would especially like to thank officials of Isfahan Province Governorate, Municipality, Radio and Television Broadcasting Service, Isfahan Police, Literacy Campaign Organization, Commerce Office, insurance organizations, various factories and food industries.
I hope the present seminar will provide a further opportunity for the exchange of experience and information on vital matters concerning the prevention and containment of non-communicable diseases and lowering their burden on communities.

بيوگرافي پروفسور برنارد لاون
دکتر برنارد لاون استاد افتخاري کارديولوژي در دانشکده بهداشت عمومي هاروارد، پزشک ارشد بيمارستان بريگهام و بيمارستان زنان، و بنيانگذار و رييس بنياد پژوهشي قلبي عروقي لاون در بروکلين، ماساچوست، در امريکا است.

وي در پژوهش درباره‌ي مرگ قلبي ناگهاني پيشقدم است و نويسنده اصلي يا همراه چهار کتاب و بيش از 425 مقاله است. دکتر لاون دو سازمان با نامهاي SateLife و ProCOR را پايه گذاري نموده است که با استفاده از فن‌آوري اينترنت و ماهواره به برآوردن نيازهاي اطلاعاتي و ارتباطي در کشورهاي در حال توسعه مي‌پردازد.

پروفسور لاون همچنين يکي از فعالان شناخته شده در زمينه‌ي صلح است و جمعيت پزشکان بين‌الملل براي پيشگيري از جنگ هسته‌اي را پايه گذاري نموده است. او در سال 1985 از جانب اين جمعيت جايزه‌ي صلح نوبل را دريافت کرد. در طول حرفه پربار دکتر لاون، يافته هاي وي نحوه‌ي طبابت در کارديولوژي را متحول کرده است.

او مُبدع دستگاه دي‌فيبريلاتور جريان مستقيم است که امروزه بخش استاندارد احياي قلبي به شمار مي‌رود. او همچنين فردي است که براي اولين بار از ليدوکايين براي تصحيح عملکرد نامظم و سريع قلب استفاده کرد. اين دستاوردها تا کنون زندگي هزاران نفر را در سراسر جهان نجات داده است. کارهاي پروفسور لاون به درک نقش عوامل روانشناختي در بيماري قلبي کمک بسياري کرده است. همچنين وي در زمينه مرگ ناگهاني قلبي که دليل عمده‌ي مرگ در جهان صنعتي است پيش‌قدم بوده و بنيانگذار واحد مراقبتهاي ويژه کرونري مدرن (CCU) به شمار مي‌رود.

Professor Bernard Lown (Biography)
(short version)
Dr. Bernard Lown is Professor of Cardiology Emeritus, at the Harvard School of Public Health, Senior Physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Founder and Chairman, Emeritus, of the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA. A research pioneer on sudden cardiac death, he is author or co-author of four books and over 425 articles. Dr. Lown has founded two organizations, SatelLife and ProCOR, that use satellite and internet technologies to assist the health communication and information needs of developing countries. He is a world-renowned peace activist who c-founded the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) with Evgeni Chazov. They were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 on behalf of IPPNW. Dr. Lown and his wife have three children and five grandchildren.
(longer version)
Dr. Bernard Lown, world-renowned cardiologist, is Professor Emeritus at the Harvard School of Public Health and Senior Physician at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, founder of the Lown Cardiovascular Group, and Chairman and founder of the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation. Dr. Lown graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maine, and received his MD from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He and his wife Louise have three children and five grandchildren.
During a productive research career, Dr. Lown's findings have changed the practice of cardiology. He developed the direct current defibrillator, now the standard of care for cardiac resuscitation, and introduced the cardioverter and the drug lidocaine for correcting rapid and disorganized heart action. These discoveries have saved tens, if not hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide. His work has contributed substantially to an understanding of the role of psychological factors in heart disease. Among many other contributions, Dr. Lown pioneered in the formidable problem of sudden cardiac death, the leading cause of fatality in the industrialized world, and laid the basis for the modern coronary care unit. He has been a consummate clinical teacher and lecturer, who has inspired hundreds of medical students as well as over two hundred research fellows in the Lown training program.
Dr. Lown passionately believes that physicians are natural advocates for the sick, the poor and the afflicted. He has led countless struggles for justice, social equity and peace, locally as well as globally. He was a founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility in the early sixties. In the eighties, together with Dr. Evgueni Chazov from the Soviet Union, he founded the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). His peace activities have been recognized with a UNESCO Peace Prize, the Cardinal Medeiros Peace Award, the Gandhi Peace Prize, some 20 honorary degrees, and the Nobel Peace Prize, which he accepted on behalf of IPPNW. Today, Dr. Lown’s prodigious energies are dedicated to SatelLife, an organization he founded to promote health information for the developing world, as well as his ongoing educational and research activities with the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation.
For Dr. Lown medicine is ultimately a calling focused on the primacy of the patient. His principles and underlying philosophy are carefully explored in two books, The Lost Art of Healing and Practicing the Art while Mastering the Science.
The following quotes are emblematic of the essence of his deeply anchored principles:
The individual patient is invariably the exception to the statistic.
Rational thought is not enough, it needs to be guided by ethical values.
The patient craves to be known as a human being, not merely to be recognized as the outer-wrappings for a disease.
I am pessimistic about the past which I cannot alter, but optimistic about the future which I can still change.