Our Time: A Call to Save Preventable Death From Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease and Stroke)

Worldwide, the aging population, globalization, rapid\nurbanization, and population growth have fundamentally\nchanged disease patterns. Noncommunicable diseases\n(NCDs), of which cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for\nnearly half, have overtaken communicable diseases as the\nworld’s major disease burden. CVD remains the No. 1 global\ncause of death, accounting for 17.3 million deaths per year, a\nnumber that is expected to grow to 23.6 million by 2030.\nIncreasingly, the populations affected are those in low- and\nmiddle-income countries, where 80% of these deaths occur,\nusually at younger ages than in higher-income countries, and\nwhere the human and financial resources to address them are\nmost limited.1\nThe epidemiological transition occurring is exacerbated by\nthe lack of vital investment in sustainable health policies to\naddress and curtail the risk factors associated with CVD and\nNCDs. Recognizing the profound mismatch between the need\nfor investment in the prevention and control of CVD at the\nglobal and national level and the actual resources allocated,\nthe international CVD community, under the umbrella of the\nWorld Heart Federation, joined the NCD community to call\nfor a United Nations (UN) High-level Meeting on Noncommunicable\nDiseases, held in September 2011. At this\nmeeting, heads of state signed a Political Declaration that\ncommitted governments to the development of 4 specific\nmeasures to address the NCD burden in a specific timeline:\n(1) Recommendations for a global monitoring framework that\nincluded NCD targets to be completed by the end of 2012; (2)\ndevelopment of a plan for an effective multisector partnership\nby the end of 2012; (3) national NCD plans by 2013; and (4)\na comprehensive review to evaluate progress, to take place in\n2014.