Consensus statement on cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the UK’s biggest killers, causing a quarter of all deaths in the UK. This amounts to, on average, 1 death every 3 minutes. CVD is also a major driver of health inequalities across the UK, and is responsible for around a quarter of the life expectancy gap between the most and least deprived parts of England. Around 7.6 million people across the UK are living with a heart or circulatory disease. Millions more are living with conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and high cholesterol, putting them at increased risk of developing CVD. Every year, CVD healthcare costs are an estimated £12 billion in the UK, and costs to the wider economy reach £28 billion. In fact, heart disease is the single largest factor behind people leaving the workforce due to ill health, which is a major factor in the UK’s faltering economic performance. Improved CVD outcomes are therefore key to achieving the Government’s Health and Growth Missions.

The case to tackle CVD is unequivocal. The Government’s manifesto commitment to tackle the UK’s biggest killers, including CVD, recognised this. 

Positively, CVD is largely preventable, with around 70% of cases in the UK attributed to modifiable factors, such as obesity and smoking. So while the challenge we face may be great, the reward will be greater. The upcoming 10 Year Health Plan provides a vital opportunity for Government to set out a clear, strategic framework for its wider health mission. But following on from this, a more targeted plan to drive forward action to address CVD and its risk factors is needed. One which sets out clear metrics and considers the entire cardiovascular pathway, from expanding primary and secondary prevention, improving access to cardiac care including survival and rehabilitation from cardiac events such as heart attack, stroke and cardiac arrest, through to increasing much-needed investment in cardiovascular disease research. 

We need a dedicated National Cardiovascular Disease Plan that sits beneath the 10 Year Health Plan.

With waiting lists for cardiac care at near-record levels in England alone, widening heart health inequalities, heart failure cases expected to double by 2040, and a projected shortfall for CVD research funding of over a quarter of a billion pounds over the next decade, this cannot be put off any longer. The right focus and action from Government could help to avoid up to 11,000 early deaths from heart and circulatory diseases in 2035 in England alone.

We have a vital opportunity to reverse a decade of lost progress in tackling premature deaths from CVD and put an end to the ongoing heart care crisis. We urge Government to seize it.

The following organisations support this statement: 

• Abbott                                                                                                                               
• Action on Salt                                                                                                                    
• Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)                                                                                   
• AF Association     
• Association of British HealthTech Industries
• Alliance for Heart Failure                                                                                               
• Alzheimer's Research UK                                                                                                     
• Arrhythmia Alliance
• Association for Inherited Cardiac Conditions (AICC)
• AstraZeneca
• Bayer
• Blood Pressure UK
• Boehringer Ingelheim
• Boston Scientific
• British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR)
• British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care (BANCC)
• British Cardiovascular Society
• British Congenital Cardiac Association
• British Heart Foundation
• British Society for Heart Failure
• British Society of Echocardiography
• Bristol Myers Squibb
• Cardiomyopathy UK
• Cochrane Thematic Group in Heart Stroke and Circulation
• Cordis
• Diabetes UK
• Edwards Life Sciences
• Heart Research UK
• Heart UK
• Heart Valve Voice
• Johnson & Johnson MedTech
• Kidney Care UK
• Kidney Research UK
• Medtronic
• Novartis
• Novo Nordisk
• Obesity Health Alliance (OHA)
• Philips
• Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (PCCS)
• Pumping Marvellous
• Pulsario 
• Resuscitation Council UK
• Roche
• Shockwave Medical
• STARS (Snycope Trust and Reflex Anoxic Seizures)
• St John Ambulance
• Stroke Association
• The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
• The King's Fund
• UK Dementia Research Institute