Key Summary
- The government and Diabetes UK partner to educate public on links between cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
- Action to tackle the 70 percent of preventable cardiovascular disease linked to risk factors.
- Thousands of lives could be saved and millions more improved, the public health minister says.
The government has launched the Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework to step up prevention, earlier diagnosis, faster treatment and better care through health and care services across the UK.
This initiative is being supported by a series of charity partnerships, beginning with Diabetes UK.
The framework supports the government’s ambition to cut premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25 percent over the next 10 years.
The partnership with Diabetes UK will raise awareness of the links between type 2 diabetes and heart disease and include a public awareness campaign, as well as greater use of the 'Know Your Risk' tool so people better understand the risks to their health and the positive actions they can take.
In the UK, one death from heart or circulatory disease occurs every three minutes, and approximately 33,000 people die prematurely from heart disease and stroke each year.
Cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes are closely linked, with people living with diabetes or prediabetes at significantly higher risk of heart attack and stroke.
More than four million people in the UK have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, with a further 1.3 million thought to be living with it without knowing.
Health secretary James Murray stressed on the need for the plan by saying that too many people are dying early from preventable heart attacks and strokes.
If successful the framework has the potential to prevent between 1,600 and 2,400 premature deaths annually from heart disease and stroke (aged under 75) in the first three years, and between 3,850 and 4,900 such deaths per year after 10 years, while supporting wider efforts across the health and care system to improve outcomes.
Public Health minister, Sharon Hodgson, said: “Thousands of lives are being cut short every year by preventable conditions. We know how to prevent and treat these conditions and we must do more to ensure people are getting the help they need.”
Diabetes UK chief executive Colette Marshall said that diabetes can lead to serious complications, including heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular conditions – but the risk of these can be reduced if people have equitable access to high-quality care.
