New report on cardiovascular disease welcomed by British Heart Foundation
07 Feb 2025
Healthy Hearts, a new collection from Policy@Manchester, offers expert research, insight, and recommendations on addressing the major health challenge of cardiovascular disease.
The Policy@Manchester team has published Healthy Hearts, a new collection on cardiovascular health in the UK and globally.
Featuring articles contributed by researchers from across the University, this collection provides evidence-led policy insight into the contributors to, impact of, and solutions for poor cardiovascular health and disease.
The collection includes a foreword by Dr Charmaine Griffiths, CEO of the British Heart Foundation, who writes:
“Lifesaving cardiovascular research is at the heart of the BHF, and the publication of Healthy Hearts is a timely reminder of the critical role research breakthroughs play in sparking the changes in national policy and practice we need to see.”
With cardiovascular disease tragically causing 1 in 4 deaths in the UK, Healthy Hearts explores what more can be done to take a preventative approach to cardiovascular health, including in underserved communities and at-risk patient groups such as cancer survivors.
The collection also discusses how healthcare systems can be reorganised to ensure patients with multiple conditions enjoy continuity of care, and the role played by air pollution as a massive contributor to cardiovascular disease.
Healthy Hearts also addresses the global challenge posed by poor cardiovascular health. The developing world suffers 75% of all deaths from cardiovascular disease, and pieces in Healthy Hearts outline low-cost solutions for community health teams.
Throughout the collection, researchers offer evidence-led, actionable solutions for policymakers, as noted by Dr Griffiths:
“The policy recommendations put forward in this world-leading collection outline concrete steps policymakers must consider as they seek to address the UK’s biggest killers and create an NHS fit for the future. Reversing a decade of lost progress in tackling CVD is within our reach.”
“It is my great privilege to introduce Healthy Hearts from Policy@Manchester, a truly impressive collection of innovative research and sensible policy recommendations on the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The Government has made a clear commitment to tackle the UK’s biggest health challenges, including CVD – and they are right to do so. I hope that in reading this collection you, like me, feel a sense of excitement about what is possible, and that policymakers and healthcare leaders feel inspired to take much-needed steps that will get us ever closer to another half century of unstoppable progress.”
Healthy Hearts is available to read at:
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