The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t derailed the fight against heart disease. Rather, it has made it more urgent, with the Heart Foundation continuing to invest in research through its annual Tax Appeal.
Heart Foundation Group CEO Professor John Kelly said that those with heart disease were particularly vulnerable at the moment, as research indicates that they are at a higher risk of severe illness and more likely to need intensive care if infected with the COVID-19 virus.
“We rely on donors to keep our work going, and tax time is the most cost-effective time for people to support the Heart Foundation,” said Professor Kelly. “Donations help to fund vital research into preventing heart disease and we can’t afford to take our foot off the accelerator during the pandemic.”
One of the projects being funded by the Heart Foundation is run by Associate Professor Duncan (Jock) Campbell, Principal Research Associate at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. Professor Campbell and his team are investigating cutting-edge strategies and tools for identifying people at risk of heart and other vascular conditions.
For many people, a heart attack is the first sign that there is something wrong with someone’s heart, and that should not be the case.
“It’s frustrating that the current methods to identify people at risk of heart disease are based on decades-old studies that do not always perform well in the Australian population. We need new approaches that are better tuned to identifying at-risk patients earlier, which in turn will enable improved targeting of treatments to prevent heart disease and its progression.
A new prediction tool for Australians would be the first of its kind in decades and could save countless lives.
Professor Kelly said that in Australia one person dies of a heart attack every 72 minutes. “Work like Professor Campbell’s is crucial to saving the lives of at-risk Australians, and we rely on our donors to make it happen.”
You can support research into heart disease by donating to the Heart Foundation’s Tax Appeal at
