Issues

Information poverty--the lack of access to timely, relevant information about CVD and preventive strategies--is a global risk factor.

Migration of health professionals from low-resource settings to other regions creates a critical shortage of healthcare workers in countries facing enormous health challenges.

Physical environments that promote physical activity and positive food choices promote heart health, while air pollution, secondhand smoke, and exposure to chemicals in the environment increases cardiovascular risk.

Increased interconnectedness of cultures, economies, and technologies across the globe has a powerful effect on people’s lives and health.

Pharmacists can play a role in addressing CVD risk factors and prevention.

The polypill--a combination of aspirin, antihypertensives, lipid-lowering drugs, and other agents--has been proposed as a potential strategy to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Health care that relies on unnecessary medical procedures and that promotes use of pharmaceuticals rather than a healthy lifestyle is unaffordable and unsustainable in all settings.

Only 10% of global expenditure on health research addresses problems that affect 90% of the world's population.

Culture, education, and income are among the underlying determinants of chronic non-communicable diseases and health disparities--the causes of the causes.

Medical training and curricula in low-resource settings are primarily oriented to infectious disease and do not adequately address the emerging threat of chronic disease.

Cardiovascular disease affects equal numbers of women and men around the globe, but women have traditionally experienced discrimination in health care, just as they have in other aspects of daily life.