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Reference ID U27NPS

Headline Cardiovascular diseases in the WHO European region

Description 6000 dead speak for the living at WHO/HQ, Geneva

Hardening of the arteries is the cause of much illness and most deaths in people over the age of 50. The World Health Organization was concerned with trying to find the cause of this condition and ways of preventing it. Diagnosis of hardening of the coronary arteries of the aorta is difficult during life. For this reason autopsy specimens from the dead of several communities have been studied and compared by expert pathologists from several countries. Comparisons were made according to the origin and environment of the subject, age, sex, occupation, cause of death, etc. Statistical control and other measures ensured that comparison could be made even though specimens came from different places and were examined by different experts. The specimens from several countries were sent to a central laboratory in Malmö, Sweden for standard preparation. When sufficient material was available, a meeting of the pathologists was convened and the specimens were graded. At the 6th meeting of this sort, 1500 specimens from 6000 subjects were used to test certain theories and were assessed by 6 pathologists from Czechoslovakia, Sweden and the USSR in Geneva.

Miss Sally Black, Secretary, Cardiovascular Diseases WHO/HQ, sorts coronary artery specimens on arrival from the central laboratory.

Asset date 01/01/1965

Country, area, WHO office Switzerland

City Geneva

WHO Region HQ

Consent No

File size 1.73 MB

Visibility class:

Public

Administered By HQ Records and Archives

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