Governments ignore the world’s leading cause of death

press.releases.esc.4sept.pdf (application/pdf Object)
4th September 2005, Stockholm, Sweden - Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death and a major cost burden for healthcare administrators. 17 million people die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) each year, with 80 per cent of all deaths occurring in low and middle income countries. While simple and costeffective preventative measures can reduce CVD death and disability by 50 per cent, CVD is being excluded from the global health agenda. At the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2005, the World Heart Federation, an NGO dedicated to the global prevention of heart disease and stroke, will call for an expansion of the global health agenda, particularly the Millennium Development Goals, a week before the 2005 World Summit where Heads of State and Government will meet at the United Nations, in New York, for the first comprehensive review of the goals set in 2000.
“Many developing countries are now affected by a double burden of disease; the combination of infectious diseases, with a rapidly growing new epidemic of chronic, noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease and some cancers. While it is important to remain focused on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB, it is imperative to begin to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease, the leading chronic disease,” said Dr Valentin Fuster, President, World Heart Federation.
“Governments simply cannot afford to wait any longer. The lack of global recognition will limit investment into research, programmes and policies to help prevent cardiovascular disease from overwhelming already overstretched health budgets, negatively impacting developing economies and resulting in millions of unnecessary premature deaths. Governments need to acknowledge the global threat of cardiovascular disease, to extend the health objectives of the Millennium Development Goals by including chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease and to take action now./.../