After cancer, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in our country2. Every day in the Netherlands, about 100 hearts stop beating as a result of cardiovascular disease. And the worrying thing is: the number of people who die from cardiovascular disease is increasing every year worldwide3-4.
High costs for people and society
In addition to the personal suffering caused by cardiovascular disease, it also has a high social cost. Think of health care expenditure for medical assistance: about 7 billion euros per year. But also the costs as a result of reduced labor productivity, absenteeism due to illness, care for loved ones or reduced employability. Nevertheless, cardiovascular diseases have not been designated as one of the three common diseases in which the government will invest heavily in the coming years. As with obesity, cancer and Alzheimer’s, the government should also focus more on tackling cardiovascular disease.
Silent killer among cardiovascular diseases
Among the cardiovascular diseases is a silent killer: arteriosclerosis. It is the leading cause of myocardial infarction, stroke or death from cardiovascular disease. Often the complaints only arise when the artery is severely narrowed. Such a narrowing is the result of a local thickening in the vessel wall, also referred to as plaque. If it ruptures and comes into contact with the blood, a blood clot forms, which can block an artery or blood vessel. This can result in a cerebral infarction (also known as a stroke), a heart attack or death. The distressing thing is: 80% of these can be prevented by early intervention, such as improving lifestyle and treating risk factors6.
Prevention and secondary prevention
Arteriosclerosis has risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, overweight and a high level of ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL-c) in the blood (whether or not hereditary). We can tackle these risk factors on two fronts: 1. primary prevention and 2. secondary prevention. There is ample attention for primary prevention (including lifestyle changes) – and rightly so. It should be noted here that the largest incentives in our healthcare system are mainly aimed at making people better. And not on staying healthy and preventing disease (progression). Less visible, but at least as important, is secondary prevention: the early detection of diseases or abnormalities in people who are ill, who are at increased risk of a disease or who have a certain genetic predisposition. The sooner it is known that someone belongs to a risk group, the sooner you can start to intervene. Providing early access to innovative treatments can reduce the risk of death, extend the number of years of good health or delay major treatment.
Heartfelt cooperation
Do we really want to make a difference with preventive measures and medical innovation? In that case, we must first of all: anchor the objectives in this area in law. Secondly, do not view the financing of prevention primarily as expenditure, but as an investment in tomorrow’s health. And third: better cooperation. We thus endorse the recent advice of the Council for Public Health and Society (RVS)7. In our view, this is essential to halt the increase in people with cardiovascular disease and to prevent healthcare from collapsing under the pressure. That is why we call on the government, the business community, the healthcare sector and patient organizations to systematically join forces under the name #heartful.
Public and private reinforce each other. By working together from different perspectives, you unlock the strength, knowledge and quality of all parties. This creates creative solutions and greater clout. In this way we provide access to appropriate care that contributes to a better quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease and less pressure on our healthcare system. A shining example of such a collaboration is the Dutch Cardiovascular Alliance (DCVA), in which pharmaceutical companies – including Novartis – are represented through the Association of Innovative Medicines (VIG).
Our share: innovative treatments
Novartis also feels and takes its responsibility to actively contribute to a suitable solution for the major challenges facing healthcare. Our part in this: discovering, developing and providing access to innovative treatments with which we greatly reduce the burden of disease and, by extension, relieve the pressure on healthcare. The same goes for cardiovascular disease. And we actively seek partnerships in the public-private field. From our perspective on healthcare, we can offer valuable insights and solutions. That is why we are happy to reach out to make a collective fist for every heart in the Netherlands. That’s so #hearty.
More information
Do you want more information? Or explore the possibility of working together? Please contact Jan Güse, Head of Public Affairs, Novartis Netherlands: communication.netherlands@novartis.com
Sources:
1 Dutch Heart Foundation, cardiovascular disease figures, webpage:
2 Statistics Netherlands. 2022. Developments in Mortality in 2020 and 2021. Retrieved from:
3 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, The King’s Fund. 2020. Is cardiovascular disease slowing improvements in life expectancy? OECD and The King’s Fund workshop proceedings. Paris: OECD
4 The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. 2020. JACC: Cardiovascular Disease Burden, Deaths Are Rising Around the World. Geraadpleegd op:
5 Libby P, Pasterkamp G, Crea F, Jang IK. The natural history of atherosclerosis: what we know and what we need to know. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017;70(20):2673-2684. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2017.09.019
6 Lloyd-Jones DM, Hong Y, Labarthe D, et al. Defining and setting national goals for cardiovascular health promotion and disease reduction: the American Heart Association’s strategic impact goal through 2020 and beyond. Circulation. 2010;121(4):586-613. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192703
7 Council for Public Health and Society. 2023. To our health – the need for stronger public health care. Accessed at:
2023-05-08 05:03:17
#Putting #halt #cardiovascular #disease #heartily #Skipr
