Secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: Time to rethink stratification of disease severity?
Ralph K Akyea, Joe Kai, Nadeem Qureshi, Hasidah Abdul Hamid, Stephen F Weng
Commentary: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a leading cause of mortality globally,1 but with improved management, CVD is less fatal.2 However, this means a large proportion of the people are living with this long-term condition. As of 2015, 1 in 17 of the global population had CVD.3 There is lack of evidence across countries to truly quantify the significant economic consequences of this pressing global health issue.4 Overall, CVD is estimated to cost the European Union (EU) economy €210 billion a year: around 53% (€111 billion) due to healthcare costs, 26% (€54 billion) to productivity losses and 21% (€45 billion) to the informal care of people with CVD.5