Key Summary
- NIHR has launched a major consortium with the British Heart Foundation to tackle cardiovascular inequalities.
- The focus is on high-risk and underserved groups, where heart disease deaths and risk factors remain significantly higher.
- Universities and partners will use research, digital tools and public health action to prevent avoidable heart deaths.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has launched a Cardiovascular Disease Inequalities Challenge Consortium through a £50 million investment, to tackle inequalities in cardiovascular diseases (CVD).
The project in association with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) aims to protect the high-risk groups that includes certain ethnic minorities and people living in deprived areas.
More than 170,000 people die due to CVD annually, and those belonging to certain ethnic minorities and living in deprived areas are more vulnerable.
South Asians are more likely to be living with diabetes and premature coronary heart disease and there is higher prevalence of hypertension amongst Black people. While Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities may face reduced access to prevention of heart disease.
The prevalence of CVD was 1.6 times higher in the most deprived quintile of England than the least deprived quintile. In addition, gender inequalities in awareness and treatment of heart attacks are killing women in the UK.
The consortium also includes nine universities and they will collaborate with charities, social enterprise organisations, local councils, NHS Trusts and industry, to ensure system-wide change can be delivered.
They include University of Glasgow, University of Leeds, University of Surrey, Swansea University, University of Birmingham, King's College London, University of Ulster, Imperial College London and University of Bristol.
The consortium will find the reasons as well as solutions for improved diagnosis, monitoring of undiagnosed or poorly managed hypertension, high levels of bad cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia), etc.
The other focus areas include developing research capacity, design various programme of career development opportunities, support future researchers, etc. to prepare them with appropriate skills and expertise.
The research projects will begin in autumn 2026 and the consortium will build ties with charities, the life sciences industry and patient groups with relevant expertise, to find solutions to tackle health inequalities in the UK.
The consortium will leverage wearables and other digital health technologies, and innovative public health messaging for better outcomes.
“Cardiovascular disease causes 170,000 deaths annually in the UK, with a large long-term disease burden on the NHS. But it can be preventable with the right early intervention,” Professor Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and chief executive officer of the NIHR.
“Now in our 20th year, the NIHR continues to drive life-changing research that matters,” she added.
