The Lancet women and cardiovascular disease Commission: reducing the global burden by 2030
Why the study?
Cardiovascular disease in women remains understudied, under-recognised, underdiagnosed, and undertreated despite awareness efforts and stagnation in burden reduction.
Key Points
- Summarize existing evidence on cardiovascular disease in women and establish targeted global recommendations to reduce disease burden and overcome disparities by 2030.
- Convened an international commission of multidisciplinary experts and cardiovascular leaders.
- Conducted a comprehensive evidence synthesis to identify systemic knowledge gaps across research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare access for women.
- Identified cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in women globally, noting that reductions in disease burden have stagnated over the past decade.
- Documented that cardiovascular disease in women remains disproportionately understudied, under-recognized, underdiagnosed, and undertreated.
- Formulated international consensus recommendations to align stakeholders, resolve sex- and gender-related disparities, and drive equitable cardiovascular care.
Structured PICO
P
Population
Women with or at risk for cardiovascular disease globally
Key expert perspectives
Captured external expert commentary on this paper, strongest first. Original sources are linked where available.
“When you see the number of deaths per year and you see that 35% of all deaths in women are due to cardiovascular disease, it really wakes you up, and I do believe that we need to make it central to government, to payers, to stakeholders setting metrics for physicians to care for women and make sure that we're educating, not just women, but everyone who is part of that care and begin intervening at all stages of life. You cannot wait until a woman presents with cardiovascular disease in her late fifties to start intervening.... It's never too late, but it's also never too early.”
“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.”
“While some risk factors for CVD are similar for women and men, women are more likely to suffer from health disparities due to cultural, political or socioeconomic factors. For instance, some social or religious norms – such as restrictions on participation in sport and physical activities – can contribute to CVD in women, highlighting an urgent need for culturally appropriate initiatives that are tailored to different regions and populations.”
Implication
This Commission highlights the persistent stagnation in reducing the cardiovascular disease burden in women and provides expert recommendations to address sex- and gender-related disparities globally by 2030.
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women. Decades of grassroots campaigns have helped to raise awareness about the impact of cardiovascular disease in women, and positive changes affecting women and their health have gained momentum. Despite these efforts, there has been stagnation in the overall reduction of cardiovascular disease burden for women in the past decade. Cardiovascular disease in women remains understudied, under-recognised, underdiagnosed, and undertreated. This Commission summarises existing evidence and identifies knowledge gaps in research, prevention, treatment, and access to care for women. Recommendations from an international team of experts and leaders in the field have been generated with a clear focus to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease in women by 2030. This Commission represents the first effort of its kind to connect stakeholders, to ignite global awareness of sex-related and gender-related disparities in cardiovascular disease, and to provide a springboard for future research.
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Cite This Study
Vogel et al. (2021) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease in women. The Lancet Commission summarizes evidence and provides international expert recommendations to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease in women by 2030.