Governance
Higher Mortality from Cardio-Vascular Diseases
- 04 Sep 2019
- 3 min read
In India & the world, Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death. More people die annually from CVDs globally than from any other ailment.
- According to a study conducted by PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology), “the CVD mortality is highest in the Low-Income Countries (LIC) and lowest in the High-Income Countries (HIC).”
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders that are related to the heart and blood vessels.
- The study was conducted over 1.6 lacs individuals for over a decade, living in 21 countries.
Findings from the Study
- Most cardiovascular disease cases and deaths in Low-Income Countries (LIC) are attributed to:
- Lower quality of health care, and it’s low availability.
- Lack of insurance - which acts as an affordability barrier.
- Some of the factors like, hypertension and education have extensive global effects.
- Household/Indoor air pollution acts as an emerging source of risk for cardiovascular disease in LIC.
- Other factors include Poor Diet, consumption of dairy-products causing CVD cases, etc.
- Some of these factors vary as per a country's economic level.
- Deaths from the cardiac disease were three times that of cancer-related deaths in LIC including India, while in high-income countries- death from cancer was twice that of CVD.
- The fact that cancer-related deaths are frequent in high-income countries indicates a transition in the predominant causes of death in the middle age group.
Way Forward
- Health policies should focus on risk factors that have the greatest effects on averting cardiovascular diseases and deaths globally.
- In specific groups of countries, additional emphasis must be laid on risk factors of greatest importance. Eliminating indoor pollution is the crucial step to be taken in this regard.
- The need of the hour is to insure each & every individual medically so that the finances do not act as a barrier in availing health facilities.
