A new scientific statement – ‘The Heart of 25 by 25: achieving the goal of reducing global and regional premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke’ – has warned that premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), already the number one cause of death around the world with a global cost of nearly US $863bn, could rise by up to 30% in women and 34% in men in the next decade if the risk factors are not “aggressively addressed” by health practitioners and policymakers worldwide.
The joint statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) and World Heart Federation studied global data on premature deaths from CVD in 30-70 year olds. The research found that CVDs are currently responsible for almost 6 million premature deaths per year, but concluded that this could rise to nearly 8 million by 2025.
Professor David Wood, President-Elect of the World Heart Federation and co-author of the study said:
“The conclusions of this study are clear: to stop people dying prematurely from cardiovascular disease we need both the political will and a firm commitment from health leaders to put in place some progressive strategies right now.
“Cost-effective measures to reduce CVD risk factors such as obesity, tobacco use and hypertension already exist, but they’ve not been widely implemented. We must learn from the global community and WCC 2016 is the perfect opportunity for policymakers, health leaders, cardiologists and researchers to consider what’s required to inspire the action that will ultimately save lives.”
