Global health: where do cardiologists fit in?

The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals aim to reduce deaths from non-communicable diseases by one-third by 2030. In addition, the member states of the UN have agreed in principle to take action to decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality by 25% by 2025.1 While there was a decrease in age-specific deaths globally from 2007 to 2017, total CVD deaths rose by 21% during the same time period.2 The primary drivers for this were the ageing of populations, overall population growth and epidemiological trends in CVD. In low-income and middle-income countries, increases in gross domestic product per capita and associated predicted decreases in the CVD burden did not reduce mortality overall.3 Improvements in education and wealth have historically been associated with improvements in the overall health of communities. However, the reality is that there is an initial phase of adoption of deleterious risk behaviours, like consumption of high-caloric/high-fat diets, increased smoking and adherence to sedentary lifestyles, that may undo any potential gains expected from prosperity.4 5 The poorest in society and those …