The Live Wire

Prescription for the UK's heart health

Our Prescription for UK's heart health

Take a look at our exclusive interviews with Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron and find out how they intend to tackle heart disease after the election.

Lobby Day

The UK has an enviable healthcare system free at the point of need. And yet many other EU member states perform better in the provision of heart health care, with consequently lower rates of premature death.

We need a bold approach to reduce the incidence of heart and circulatory disease to the lowest level in Western Europe within a generation.

There has been some significant progress on preventing heart and circulatory disease in recent years, including:

• legislative measures and tobacco control strategies to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke and to put tobacco beyond the reach of children

• some restrictions on marketing of foods high in fat, sugar and salt

• national frameworks to drive up standards for treatment and care

• a supportive environment that facilitates cardiovascular research, including stem cell research and regenerative medicine.

These must be preserved to protect the heart health of the nation.

But we need to go further and faster if we are serious about tackling the UK's biggest killer. The coming decade will bring new challenges with demographic changes, shifts in the burden of disease and a more stringent financial climate. The prevalence of heart and circulatory disease remains disproportionately high amongst people living in disadvantaged circumstances and from particular ethnic groups. These inequalities must be tackled.

Click here to read the BHF's Prescription for the UK's heart health

Click here to read the BHF's prescription for heart health in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The BHF calls on MPs to pledge their support for tackling heart and circulatory disease – the UK's biggest killer – at the general election and beyond.

· Heart patients call for a renewed approach to tackling heart and circulatory disease in England

More from Dods

© Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd