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(Circulation. 1999;100:e101.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.

Circulation Electronic Pages

Global Epidemic of Cardiovascular Disease Expected by the Year 2050

Ruth SoRelle, MPH, Circulation Newswriter

	Introduction

 
By the middle of the next century, cardiovascular disease will be the #1 killer worldwide, which makes it imperative that the prevention of heart disease become a priority in the developing and the industrialized world, according to experts meeting at the XXIst Congress of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain. Cardiovascular disease already represents 30% of all mortality worldwide, said Arun Chockalingam, MS, PhD, coauthor of the World Heart Federation’s white book on the Impending Global Pandemic of Cardiovascular Diseases, Challenges and Opportunities for the Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Diseases in Developing Countries and Economies in Transition. "Approximately 50 million people die from cardiovascular disease in the world each year," he said. "Nine million of those are in the developing countries. In the future, this will become even more of a worldwide problem."

The stark disparity between health expenditures in various countries demonstrates, in part, the kind of major problem this represents, said Dr Chockalingam. If just 5% of the gross national product were spent on health care, it would mean that approximately $5 would be spent in Ethiopia and $429 in Slovenia. Yet, most developing countries spend less than this on their health budgets, which contrasts starkly with industrialized nations. For example, the United States spends >$4000 per person per year on health care.

Even determining the extent of the problem in developing countries is difficult because of a lack of data about the status of health there. Most data that are currently available come . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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