Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide: no other cause causes as many deaths each year as CVD.
An estimated 17,9 million people died from CVD in 2016, accounting for 31% of all deaths worldwide. 85% of these deaths were due to heart attack and stroke. Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and obesity, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol through population-wide strategies [1].
In Uzbekistan, the risk of premature death (among the population aged 30-69 years) from the four major NCD groups is approximately 31%; CVD is the leading cause of death. A quarter of adults aged 18-64 and almost a third of adults aged 40-64 are at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years. Men are particularly at risk for cardiovascular risk given their tobacco use and the harmful use of alcohol. In general, men tend to underuse health services; blood pressure in this population is also under-controlled [2].
