(September 29th, 2016, New York, USA) – On World Heart Day, Vital Strategies urges governments around the world to commit to policies to reduce preventable cases of cardiovascular disease (CVDs). The best results will be achieved by implementing proven, evidence-based policies that meet a country’s specific challenges. As a first step, action on improving health monitoring and data would enable a more accurate assessment of the burden of disease and inform targeted prevention, control and treatment strategies.
Fiscal policy – including taxation – could reduce consumer demand for products that contribute to CVDs, like tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods and beverages. In addition, this would deliver sustainable revenues for health promotion and disease prevention campaigns and health and social care provision for people living with CVDs. Policies to encourage physical activity, such as creating or enhancing access to places for physical activity, and reduce air pollution, such as addressing inefficient fossil fuel consumption from motor vehicles, power generation facilities, manufacturing plants and buildings – particularly in the world’s most populous cities – would also help to reduce preventable deaths from CVDs.
José Luis Castro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vital Strategies, said: “More than 17 million people die from cardiovascular disease every year. It has the dubious honor of being the world’s leading cause of death, yet many cases are entirely preventable if people avoid known risk factors – primarily tobacco use, excessive alcohol use and unhealthy foods and beverages – and embrace healthy lifestyles. To reach this objective, governments must deliver information and policies that create social and physical environments for people to make healthy choices.”
“Yet governments themselves can lack the information necessary to address the problem. Efforts like the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data For Health Initiative will enable governments to become better-equipped to improve heart health. Careful analysis of accurate health data can help governments identify the risk factors that most impact their own citizens and prioritize action to deliver the greatest impact. Such data-driven policymaking is an efficient way of reducing the health and economic burden of preventable disease, including CVDs, which governments have committed to do under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“CVD is not a condition of only wealthy countries. The countries most impacted – representing 80 percent of global deaths related to CVDs – are low and middle income countries. This burdens comparatively under-developed health systems and impedes sustainable development, creating an economic as well as health motive to deliver change. Preventative action represents good value, especially when compared with the US $ 863 billion global cost of CVDs. For our part, Vital Strategies stands ready to help governments build strong public health systems and implement policies to reduce the risk factors for cardiovascular disease.”
Vital Strategies’ participation in the Data For Health Initiative aims to help governments improve civil registration/vital statistics systems and increase the availability of data to enable government officials, public health leaders and funders to make better informed decisions on priorities including how and where to direct public health resources. Vital Strategies also supports governments in delivering population-level attitudinal and behavior change through mass media campaigns that increase public knowledge of the health harms – including cardiovascular disease – of tobacco use and unhealthy products like sugar-sweetened beverages.
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies envisions a world where every person is protected by a strong public health system. Our team combines evidence-based strategies with innovation to help develop sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently, strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior change. Vital Strategies is an affiliate of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).
To find out more, please visit vitalstrategies.org or Twitter @VitalStrat
For further information or to arrange an interview with a Vital Strategies public health and tobacco control expert, please contact Tracey Johnston, Vital Strategies, at +44.7889.081.170 or tjohnston@vitalstrategies.org