CORPUS turns red on Dress Red Day

On Sept. 29, nearly sixty buildings throughout the Netherlands are turning red for Dress Red Day. On this day, also World Heart Day, the Heart Foundation calls attention to cardiovascular disease in women. Iconic buildings and locations will turn red Saturday night and Sunday night. Museums and leading hospitals across the country will also be lit red then.

The most common symptom of heart problems is pain or a squeezing or pressing sensation in the chest, in both men and women. But there are also heart complaints that are more common in women, such as pain in the jaw, neck or back. These symptoms are often not linked to heart problems, which can cause women to get medical attention too late. There are also specific risk factors for cardiovascular disease that apply only to women, such as menopause and preeclampsia. Attention and research on cardiovascular disease in women is therefore desperately needed.

Attention of vital importance

"In the past, men were mainly looked at when researching and treating cardiovascular disease," said Hans Snijder, director at the Heart Foundation. "Our strategy is titled Eye for Differences for a reason. With that, we emphasize the gains to be made in people of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds and by looking at the differences between men and women," Snijder said. "It is vitally important to pay attention to recognizing certain complaints that are still predominantly found in women."

Turning buildings red was made possible through a collaboration of the Heart Foundation with prominent partners such as light art experts Livingprojects and Unesco World Heritage.

Broad-based Initiative

Hospitals throughout the Netherlands, including Erasmus MC, are supporting this initiative by also turning red on Dress Red Day. "Awareness around cardiovascular disease among women is," says an Erasmus MC spokesperson. "Although our staff usually dress in white, many wore something red on their own initiative in previous years. This year we are coloring the whole building red, a powerful statement and nice to do it together with the Heart Foundation."

Other participants are also enthusiastic: "Besides propagating the importance of heritage as the beating heart of our history, we like to draw attention to cardiovascular diseases in women," says Luzette Kroon, president of the Netherlands World Heritage Foundation. "How cool is it that icons like this can contribute to this message," adds Pauline Buter, head of marketing at Kinderdijk.

The architectural lighting designers at Livingprojects, helped make the campaign possible. "With light you can make a huge impact and draw attention to social issues, especially with striking buildings," says Glenn Logtenberg of Livingprojects. "We are proud to be able to use our expertise to literally put the Heart Foundation's crucial message in the spotlight."

Dress red on Sept. 29

Besides the red-colored buildings, many Dutch people dress in red this day to call attention to cardiovascular diseases in women. They shared this en masse on social media in previous years, and the Heart Foundation expects many messages and photos this year as well.