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from the industry: in the face of an overloaded health-care system, it’s time to transform heart health

if the tech, life sciences, finance and patient advocacy sectors worked together with health leaders to take on our biggest public health challenges, it would be transformational, writes andrea marazzi, general manager with novartis pharmaceuticals canada inc.

by andrea marazzi
published feb 28, 2022
read time 3 minute read
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read time 3 minute read
join the conversation
from the industry: in the face of an overloaded health care system, it’s time to transform heart health
every five minutes, one canadian dies from heart conditions, stroke or vascular cognitive impairment. getty
february is heart month. while raising awareness about the importance of cardiovascular health during moments like these are vital, as a country, we need to act with a sense of urgency to address the heavy and lasting toll cardiovascular disease takes on the health and wellness of canadians. every five minutes, one canadian dies from heart conditions, stroke or vascular cognitive impairment. these conditions contribute to the leading cause of death in canada yet, premature heart disease and stroke are largely preventable.
the ripple effect triggered by those suffering from these conditions has caused a significant strain on our health-care system. and the impact on patients and society is immense. in canada, it is estimated that cardiovascular disease (cvd) costs approximately $22 billion a year; not only is it considered the second leading contributor to national health-care costs, it remains one of the top causes of hospitalization.
atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ascvd) is the leading driver of cvd and the principal cause of ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, and peripheral arterial disease. heart attacks and strokes are responsible for 85 per cent of cvd deaths globally, in addition to high rates of hospitalization, significant disability, and increased health care costs. risk factors include hypertension, diabetes, high blood lipids, an unhealthy diet, obesity, physical inactivity, tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption.

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with the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the issues regarding the strain that cvd imposes on our health-care system have only compounded. a recent world health organization (who) study found the pandemic led to severe global disruptions in health care for noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular emergencies. this has produced a backlog in the need for secondary prevention, or followup care to prevent future heart attacks and strokes in people at elevated risk, either because of a previous incident or a cvd diagnosis.
this crisis has led the broader health-care industry to take a closer look at how we can band together to offset this ripple effect and improve cardiovascular care across canada. through the pandemic, we have seen the benefits that can be harnessed when public and private organizations collaborate to drive solutions to critical health care problems. so, what would it look like if key sectors of society — tech, life sciences, finance, patient advocacy organizations — worked together with health-care leaders to take on our biggest public health challenges? in a word: transformational.
with this in mind, last fall, founding partner novartis pharmaceuticals canada inc. invited and convened peer organizations across the canadian ecosystem, including the canadian cardiovascular society, for the biome cvd summit.  the goal of the summit was to bring cardiovascular disease mortality to the forefront of public discourse and to identify the main actionable challenges posed by cvd, with the aim of long-term mortality reductions by 2025.
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canadian society for exercise physiology
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what is evident is that we must create a heart coalition to prioritize cardiovascular care in this country. this is essential to becoming more efficient and more strategic in driving down the risk factors of cardiovascular disease while building sustainable capacity in our health care system.
in the time it took you to read this op-ed, another canadian will have died from a likely preventable disease. by working together, we can help canada reduce the burden of cvd on patients, their families and caregivers, making sure they don’t suffer the same fate — in the process, improving health and health care for millions of canadians.
andrea marazzi is a general manager with novartis pharmaceuticals canada inc.
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