Vascular diseases includes coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease. Currently it affects the lives of over 4 million people in England. It causes 36 per cent of deaths (170,000) a year in England and is responsible for a fifth of all hospital admissions. It is the largest single cause of long-term ill health and disability, impairing the quality of life for many people. The burden of this disease falls disproportionately on people living in deprived conditions and on particular ethnic groups such as South Asians. Vascular disease accounts for the largest part of the health inequalities in our society.
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a preventable disease that kills more than 110,000 people in England every year. More than 1.4 million people suffer from angina and 275,000 people have a heart attack annually. CHD is the biggest killer in the country. The Government is committed to reducing the death rate from coronary heart disease, stroke and related diseases in people under 75 by at least 40% (to 83.8 deaths per 100,000 population) by 2010.
In Kent, CHD and respiratory diseases are the second biggest cause of death.
