According to the Manchester Evening News, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) aiming to raise awareness about heart disease among the Islamic community is all set to run a series of training courses for Muslim religious leaders.

The charity has chosen the north-west city as one location for the initiative, with imams and faith leaders in the region attending special training sessions on encouraging their congregation members to make positive lifestyle changes, including informing them about risk factors associated with the disease.

Participants at the training sessions will be given specific information about the risk factors associated with heart disease and the dangers of high salt consumption and smoking and how these can increase the chances of heart disease.

The scheme will be welcomed by those who work in UK cardiac positions, with the sessions conducted in Urdu, Bengali and English educating South Asians about the disease, as people originating from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India are at a higher risk of suffering from heart disease than other community groups.

And, as a BHF spokesperson told the newspaper, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan offers an excellent opportunity for encouraging Muslims to adopt a healthy lifestyle, with Imams playing a major role in providing information.

In 2007, approximately 2.6 million people in the UK were living with coronary heart disease, with 91,000 condition related deaths that year, according to BHF statistics.

The Manchester session will be held on 2nd August at the Islamabad Grill, 199 - 201 Wimslow Road, Rusholme starting at 11.30 a. m.