Report calls out unequal treatment for women with heart disease across the world

In a global report published today, researchers have called for urgent action to improve care and prevention to combat the worldwide leading cause of death among women – heart and circulatory disease.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women, responsible for 35 per cent of deaths per year worldwide. Despite this, CVD among women remains understudied, under-recognised, underdiagnosed, and undertreated, with women under-represented in clinical trials. 

The report in the Lancet, Women and Cardiovascular Disease Commission: reducing the global burden by 2030, is authored by 17 leading experts from 11 countries. 

The authors outline 10 ambitious recommendations to address inequities in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention to reduce CVD in women, including educating health care providers and the public to raise awareness; scaling up heart health programs in highly populated and underdeveloped regions; and prioritising sex-specific research on heart diseases in women.

Women receive poorer care than men

Our BHF Associate Medical Director and consultant cardiologist, Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, said:

“BHF funded research has shown that here in the UK women who have a heart attack receive poorer care than men at every stage - diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. The dangerous misperception that heart disease is a ‘man’s disease’ is costing the lives of women across the world.

“We also know that inequalities for women are rife in many areas of heart and circulatory health beyond heart attack. This Commission is an important and comprehensive beginning in recognising these inequalities and the steps that we need to take to eliminate them.”

"The UK Government has recognised that there is strong evidence of the need for greater focus on women’s health and to recognise and act on the inequalities. We’re committed to working with them to make sure that the picture for heart disease care for women in the UK changes for the better.

find out more about how heart disease affects women