Heart Disease 'Macedonia's Biggest Killer'

Speaking at an event in Skopje marking World Heart Day on Sunday, he said the youngest patient treated at the Skopje Cardiology Clinic was just 19.

"People need to lead healthy lives and to change their lifestyle in order to prevent heart diseases," Osmani said.

Macedonia's Public Health Institute helped organise the event, in which people were offered advice by doctors and free medical check-ups on blood pressure, body mass index, height, weight and blood sugar levels.

The minister also went through a medical check.

World Heart Federation studies show more than 17 million people die worldwide each year from heart-related diseases and strokes - many of them in their most productive years.

Doctors say that at least 80 per cent of the premature deaths could be prevented by tackling stress, eating healthy food, not smoking and taking regular exercise.

In the past seven years show that about half of the total number of those examined over 45 years of age have one, two or three risk factors linked to heart disease, according to the preventive medical checkups conducted by the Public Health Institute in Macedonia.