Given the federal government’s planned statutory regulations for heart attack prevention, intensive care specialists are advocating for the strengthening of health literacy starting as early as primary school. According to Uwe Janssens, Medical Director of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), it is highly positive that politicians are focusing more intensely on cardiovascular risk prevention.
Janssens considers it a coherent and logical step to introduce health literacy as a mandatory subject in elementary school. He believes children should be educated early on about how factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, exercise, diet, and smoking influence their future cardiovascular risk.
Currently, health knowledge is heavily reliant on socioeconomic status and educational background, which in fact exacerbates rather than reduces health inequality. Janssens explains that if individuals understand how to manage their blood pressure and cholesterol, recognize the importance of regular physical activity, and grasp the dangers of smoking, many initial heart attacks can be prevented. Furthermore, controlling classic risk factors like high blood pressure and smoking has the potential to reduce the likelihood of a heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death by 30 to 40 percent.
