CHINA is facing an epidemic of heart disease and should urge immediate changes in unhealthy lifestyles for better prevention, a public health official said in Beijing Sunday.

　　Cancers, cerebral disease and heart disease have become the top three killers of China's approximately 450 million urban residents.

　　They replace respiratory system diseases, infectious diseases and tuberculosis, which were prevalent in the 1950s, the official said.

　　The new illnesses were associated with a great improvement in living standards and are preying on increasing numbers of rural people, said Kong Lingzhi, an official from the Department of Disease Control under the Ministry of Health.

　　More than 100 million Chinese, or about one in every 13 people, are estimated to have high blood pressure which is a leading cause of many heart and cerebral problems.

　　China has an average of 1.5 million stroke victims and 750,000 cases of heart attack each year, Kong said, speaking at a forum on strategies for heart disease control.

　　China has been listed by the World Health Organization among countries with a rapidly increasing incidence of heart disease, together with India, Russia, and some eastern European nations, according to Dr. Hu Dayi at the People's Hospital of Beijing.

　　Kong Lingzhi said China must establish a comprehensive network for disease prevention and control, involving the participation of the government, medical researchers, mass media, and the public.

　　Despite the proposed measures, experts fear that disease-control efforts may be difficult because the number of people susceptible to such diseases, such as the elderly, smokers and overweight people, was growing.

　　About 240 million Chinese over the age of 20 are overweight, and more than 30 million are obese according to international standards, Kong said.

　　A sedentary lifestyle, excessive fat and salt-rich food along with growing psychological pressures make people increasingly vulnerable to heart disease, said Dr. Hu.

　　He said the public, particularly the young, should be educated to participate more in calorie-burning activities, such as walking, jogging, swimming, and hiking.

　　(Xinhua)