In celebration of World Heart Day (WHD) 2013 on September 29 and World Teacher's Day on October 5, the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) promotes heart health of teachers. The project, called  "BP ng Teacher Ko Alaga Ko", started in September 2010 to provide awareness on the health concerns of the teachers. This is a joint project by PHA, Department of Education and Philippine Society of Hypertension, Inc. (PSH).

WHD 2013 Committee, Dr. Joel Abanilla said, "The goal of the project is to zero in the list of schools that we need to visit. That is why we are going from different schools to another." "An ongoing forum and blood pressure screening is done in different schools," said Abanilla during the WHD 2013 forum.

Dr. Abanilla also mentioned that teachers are prone to hypertension due to nature of their work and the stress of dealing with difficult students. Based on the findings released by PHA, 31 percent of elementary school teachers have hypertension; and 34 percent have pre-hypertension. Other findings include: 39 percent of respondents have moderate to excessive salt intake; 42 percent have high total cholesterol (= 200 mg/dl); while 40 percent have abnormal ECG.

"The project objectives are to increase the awareness level of our teachers on blood pressure consciousness and to promote lifestyle modifications and to educate our teachers on the conditions and adverse effects of hypertension," said Dr. Irma Yape, chairperson for PHA's Council on Hypertension.

World Heart Day 2013 checks up on Teachers’ heart health