The Cost of Inaction: Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Asia-Pacific

Key findings from the report include:

• Heart attacks are rising among younger people across the Asia-Pacific markets examined.
• Heart disease is costing the Asia-Pacific markets USD 46.3 billion (estimated across Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand).
• CVD policies do exist in some form in all economies studied, however there is substantial room for improvement.
• Policies on modifiable risk factors exist, but the success of translating these into legislation and action, along with measuring impact, remains to be defined.
• Only one market (Australia) has implemented a comprehensive secondary prevention of CVD public health awareness campaign.
• Clinical practice guidelines for CVD secondary prevention, heart attack and stroke, vary substantially across economies.
• Government audits are lacking. Only two study economies have any form of audit in place.
• Integrated primary care systems are still emerging in many Asian economies, and in many cases, patient uptake of services remains low.