World Heart Day 2024: Raising Awareness About Heart Disease
World Heart Day, which is celebrated every year on 29th September, is a global awareness event that aims to highlight the importance of cardiovascular health and the prevention of heart disease and stroke. In the UK, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains one of the leading causes of all deaths, contributing to over 170,000 deaths a year, or 480 each day.
In the run-up to this year’s campaign, The British Heart Foundation (BHF), which plays a significant role in supporting research, awareness, and treatment strategies in the UK, has released a new report as part of its ‘Hearts Need More’ campaign, calling for swift action to help reduce early death and disability from cardiovascular disease. According to figures from BHF research, there has been a three-year rise in the number and rate of these early deaths and the BHF is calling for urgent measures to help prevent further rises. The BHF estimates that by implementing a heart disease action plan up to 11,000 early deaths a year from heart and circulatory diseases in England could be avoided by 2035.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive from The British Heart Foundation, said: “There is no time to waste. Early deaths from conditions like heart attack and stroke are rising, the NHS is facing unprecedented pressure, and we urgently need to find more revolutionary treatments and cures. A heart disease action plan has never been more needed.”
Key Statistics from The British Heart Foundation
- 6 million people in the UK are living with heart or circulatory disease.
- 480 people a day die from a heart or circulatory disease and around 130 of them will be younger than 75.
- The total annual healthcare cost of heart and circulatory diseases in the UK is around £10 billion.
What is World Heart Day?
World Heart Day is celebrated annually on 29th September and was established in 2000 by the World Heart Federation to raise global awareness about cardiovascular disease and stroke. The annual campaign is aimed at raising awareness about the impact of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are the leading cause of death worldwide.
Sources:
Action now could avoid up to 11,000 CVD deaths a year by 2035
British Heart Foundation CVD Statistics UK Factsheet
Delayed Treatment and Diagnosis
Earlier this year, we published a blog on our dedicated medical negligence website, which highlighted reported figures showing that there is an alarming number of NHS patients in England and Wales with serious heart conditions still facing lengthy waits to receive the care they need. At the time of publication, the figures showed that the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks was five times higher than at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The procedures these patients are waiting for included life-saving treatments, such as open-heart surgery, stent insertions, and pacemaker fittings.
Read our previous blog here: Rise in NHS Waiting Times for Heart Patients
Medical Negligence Solicitors Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire
The World Heart Day campaign provides an opportunity not only for individuals to reflect on their health and lifestyles, but also to encourage medical professionals to focus on patient safety. This is something that as medical negligence solicitors we are passionate about.
