A new heart disease awareness campaign highlights the need for those at risk to be checked.
And anyone with any concern about heart disease should be more assertive with doctors to get a check, Heart Foundation medical director Prof Norman Sharpe says.
But Dunedin GP Prof Murray Tilyard says he would turn away a ''paranoid'' person requesting a check, to save health resources.
Former All Black captain Wayne Shelford is fronting a national awareness campaign encouraging people to visit their doctor or nurse to get a heart and diabetes check.
The campaign also includes actor Robbie Magasiva and comedians Urzila Carlson and Raybon Kan.
The campaign was developed by the Health Promotion Agency (HPA).
HPA spokesman Tane Cassidy said two television advertisements had been produced to deliver the serious message that heart disease and diabetes kill more than 6000 New Zealanders a year and to encourage people to get a heart and diabetes check.
''The earlier heart disease and diabetes are detected, the easier they are to manage. The aim of this campaign is to communicate the seriousness of heart disease and diabetes in a way that connects with our audience to motivate them to get a check.''
The check involved measuring blood pressure and weight, testing cholesterol and blood glucose levels and taking into account any risk factors such as smoking, lack of exercise, poor diet and family history with heart disease or diabetes, Mr Cassidy said.
''It's a simple but important message. Get a heart and diabetes check; do it for your family.''
The target audiences for the campaign were Maori, Pacific Island and South Asian males 35 and over, all other ethnic groups of males 45 and over, Maori, Pacific and South Asian females 45 and over and all other ethnic groups of females 55 and over.
But Prof Sharpe said anyone outside the target audience with a family history of heart disease, or just seeking reassurance, should be checked.
''You can go, as an educated and informed client, and ask for what you want. The Kiwi patient needs to be a little more assertive.''
A doctor refusing to check somebody seeking reassurance was disappointing, Prof Sharpe said.
''I understand the pressure on doctors; some of them are a bit defensive, if not overcome by it. They have a lot to do but they are required to do it now because it's mandated as a national health target and there is potentially quite a large benefit for large numbers of people.''
The benefit was fewer people dying prematurely from heart disease, he said.
''Although the coronary death rate has come down, it's still quite high and we've got a new wave of younger people coming through with the disease.''
Testing for heart disease was cheap and took minutes by a doctor or nurse, he said.
However, Prof Tilyard said if a healthy, young person with no risk factors came to his clinic ''paranoid'' about heart disease, he would not ''waste health resources'' on a test.
The cost ''adds up'' if doctors tested everyone, Prof Tilyard said.
Although the patient was the customer, the doctor provided the guidance, he said.
''If I take my car to a mechanic and say it's got a funny knock in the engine, I then trust him to do the right thing. There has to be that trusting relationship.''
