Karachi: Pakistani women have the highest death rate from ischaemic heart disease among five South Asian countries studied, with high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and physical inactivity increasing their risk, health experts warned on World Heart Day 2026.
The warning came as cardiologists, gynecologists and local industry leaders launched nationwide “Her Heart Matters” campaign at a press conference in Karachi with the Pakistan Cardiac Society, Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan, Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine and Go Red for Women, to promote screening, awareness and education for early detection and timely treatment of cardiovascular risks.
Cardiologists, physicians and gynaecologists said heart disease among women was often ignored due to misconceptions that it mainly affected men, inadequate screening and poor follow-up during pregnancy, after childbirth and after menopause.
Prof Dr Mansoor Ahmed, professor of cardiology at the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases, said the long-held belief that women did not develop heart disease had been proved wrong.
Women were as vulnerable as men but often put household duties first, and families neglected their medical needs, he said. Diabetes commonly occurred alongside heart disease, so women with diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity needed regular screening, he added.
Prof Dr Tazeen Abbas, secretary general of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan, said women’s heart health needed attention before and during pregnancy, after childbirth and after menopause.
She said many women stopped prescribed medicines during pregnancy or discontinued blood-pressure treatment after delivery, and should consult doctors instead. High blood pressure during pregnancy was often forgotten after childbirth, she said, and pregnancy-associated cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscle weakens around pregnancy, could be serious if not treated in time.
Anaemia and closely spaced pregnancies added to the burden, making family planning and birth spacing important, she added.
Prof Dr Halima Yasmeen, chairperson and head of department at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said heart disease had been detected in around four percent of pregnant women screened at her clinical service.
Pregnancy was an opportunity to screen for high blood pressure and undiagnosed heart disease, and women with cardiac problems needed coordinated care from obstetricians, physicians and cardiologists.
Prof Dr Shabnam Naveed, head of medicine at JPMC and Jinnah Sindh Medical University, said more than 90 percent of women attending JPMC’s diabetes clinic had one or more cardiovascular risk factors.
Though a high-risk hospital group, the figure showed the close link between diabetes, hypertension, obesity and heart disease, she added, and lack of screening remained a barrier.
Prof Dr Fawad Farooq, general secretary of the Pakistan Cardiac Society, said stress was another important contributor, and women could add walking and other physical activity to their routines.
He said specialist cardiac hospitals were receiving large numbers of chest pain and heart attack patients because Pakistan lacked an effective primary and secondary cardiovascular-care network, and stronger primary care and continued medication were needed to prevent repeat heart attacks.
The concerns are supported by a 2026 study in JACC: Asia, which compared Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan using Global Burden of Disease estimates.
It found Pakistan had the highest age-standardised death rate from ischaemic heart disease among women in 2021, and was the only country where deaths relative to estimated cases were higher among women than men, at 4.4 percent against 3.1 percent.
High blood pressure and diets low in vegetables and fibre were leading contributors to heart-disease deaths among Pakistani women.
Samar Iqbal Jafri, director marketing and sales at PharmEvo, said the campaign would bring medical societies together to promote screening, prevention and timely treatment for women.