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A
Public Health Action Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke
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Section 1. Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention: Time for Action
Summary
The continuing epidemic
of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the United States and globally calls for
renewed and intensified public health action to prevent heart disease and
stroke. Public health agencies at national, state, and local levels
(including CDC in partnership with NIH) bear a special responsibility to
meet this call, along with tribal organizations and all other interested
partners. The widespread occurrence and silent progression of
atherosclerosis and high blood pressure (the dominant conditions underlying
heart disease and stroke) has created a CVD burden that is massive in terms
of its attendant death, disability, and social and economic costs. This
burden is projected to increase sharply by 2020 because of the changing age
structure of the U.S. population and other factors, including the rising
prevalence of obesity and diabetes. Several popular myths and misconceptions
have obscured this reality, and these must be dispelled through effective
communication with the public at large and with policy makers.
More than a half–century
of research and experience has provided a strong scientific basis for
preventing heart disease and stroke. Policy statements and guidelines for
prevention have been available for more than four decades and have increased
in breadth, depth, and number to guide both public health action and
clinical practice. National public health goals have been updated to 2010
and include a specific call to prevent heart disease and stroke. Achieving
this goal would greatly accelerate progress toward achieving the nation's
two overarching health goals—increasing quality and years of healthy life
and eliminating health disparities. CVD is a major contributor to early
death (measured as years of life lost) and to differences in life expectancy
among racial and ethnic groups.
An unprecedented
opportunity exists today to develop and implement an effective public health
strategy to prevent heart disease and stroke. Three major factors have
contributed to this opportunity:
- More cumulative
knowledge and experience in CVD prevention exists today than ever before.
- Major national partnerships have been established to support heart
disease and stroke prevention.
- Health professionals
increasingly recognize the continuing CVD epidemic, unfavorable recent
trends, and forecasts of a mounting burden of heart disease and stroke,
nationally and worldwide. This recognition has increased their awareness
of the need for immediate action.
Despite this opportunity,
the public health investment in preventing heart disease and stroke remains
far below what is needed for fully effective intervention. Serious
shortcomings also exist in the delivery of established treatments for these
conditions in clinical practice. These facts demonstrate that the vast body
of current knowledge and experience in CVD prevention has yet to be
adequately applied to realize the full potential benefit to the public's
health. The most critical need today is for public health action that is
guided by the knowledge and experience already at hand.
Next Section: Introduction: Planning
for the Prevention of Heart Disease and Stroke
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Date last reviewed:
05/12/2006
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke
Prevention,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion |
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