The Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk

“Cardiovascular diseases are a persistent challenge that lead to an enormous number of premature and preventable deaths. There are many inexpensive, effective treatments. We know what risk factors we need to identify and treat. There are simple healthy choices that people can make to improve their health. This atlas provides detailed information on where countries stand in their efforts to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.”

“The finding that CVD burden is substantially greater outside of the most developed settings even after accounting for differences in population age, remains among the most important messages of this analysis. Our analysis shows wide geographic differences in CVD burden that can't be explained by income level alone. Given this kind of variation, our findings offer the opportunity to tailor local health policies to target the most relevant risks for specific populations.”

Harlan M. KrumholzCardiologist, JACC Editor-in-Chief, Yale University

“This report is a wake-up call: heart disease remains the world's leading cause of death, and the burden is rising fastest in places least equipped to bear it. The good news is we know the risks and how to address them; if countries act now with effective health policies and systems, millions of lives can be saved.”