World Heart Federation:

Economic impact:

Heart disease and stroke – cardiovascular disease – are expensive for the world. In 2003,

cardiovascular disease cost the European Union €169 billion.1 The most up to date data from

the United States of America shows that cardiovascular disease costs nearly €310.23 billion in

direct and indirect annual costs.2 By comparison, the estimated cost of all cancers is €146.19

billion and HIV infections, €22.24 billion.2

The economic burden of heart disease is no longer confined to the affluent, industrialized

world. With the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of

death in the developing world.3  Its rise is linked to the increase in prevalence of risk factors

such as tobacco use and relative lack of access to interventions to managing the ensuing

disease.3

The economic impact is felt both as a cost to the country’s health system as well as the loss of

income and production of those affected either directly by the disease and as caregivers to

those with cardiovascular disease, who cease to work.3  This is exacerbated in the developing

world where cardiovascular disease affects a high proportion of working-age adults.3

In China, annual direct costs are estimated at €30.76 billion or 4% percent of gross national

income.3 In South Africa, 25% of the country’s health care spending is devoted to

cardiovascular disease.4

Cardiovascular disease as a threat to economic stability

The economic implications of cardiovascular disease are vast. In developing countries, heart

disease has historically affected the more educated and higher socioeconomic groups, but this

ischanging.5

What researchers are finding is that in developing countries cardiovascular disease

disproportionately affects working-age adults from lower socioeconomic groups.4,5 Also,

people from lower socioeconomic groups fare worse if they develop heart disease; their

mortality after a heart attack is higher than someone from a high socioeconomic group. 5

This has led researchers to claim that if the global epidemic of heart disease continues it will

have an impact on the viability of a number of countries’ economies.4 Already, researchers

estimate that between the developing economies of Brazil, India, China, South Africa, and

Mexico, 21 million years of future productive life are lost each year because of cardiovascular

disease.