The Government has announced that it will start work on a new strategy to tackle cardiovascular disease in the UK.
The Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley made the announcement of a new ‘Outcomes Strategy’ which will seek to create a joined up approach across the NHS, public health and social care, building on current strategies covering cardiovascular disease.
Charles Kernahan, Chief Executive of Kidney Research UK said:
“This is very promising news. However I must stress that this strategy will only be successful if the Government considers all disease areas that fall under the cardiovascular umbrella. This includes kidney disease, which has now reached epidemic proportions in the UK.
For too long, kidney disease has been left out in the cold in terms of recognition as a ‘killer illness’ and one of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease.
Currently 3 million people in the UK are at risk of chronic kidney disease. 50,000 people are on renal replacement therapy and we know that 20% of these people are ‘crash landers’ – the term we use for members of the public being admitted to hospital with acute renal failure - without having been prepared for dialysis and other treatments.
The new strategy must tackle kidney disease head on, in order to reduce the financial burden on the NHS and the number of ‘crash-landers.’ Currently kidney disease costs the NHS 3.66 billion each year for costly transplant operations, ongoing dialysis, and conservative care.
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