Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of premature deaths from cardiovascular disease on economic growth.

Too many lives are lost prematurely to cardiovascular disease (CVD). In 2023, 29% of all CVD deaths in England occurred in people under 75 years old. The Government is committed to ensuring fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including CVD.

That is why the Health Mission set an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years. To deliver on this, the Department and NHS England are working together at pace to understand both the scale of the challenge and the opportunities for progress across the prevention, treatment, and management of CVD.

We know that CVD is one of the largest health condition contributors to economic inactivity in England. Of the 2.5 million working-age people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness, 770,000 reported cardiovascular problems as a contributing factor. Estimates show that CVD costs the National Health Service £10 billion annually, and £24 billion annually to the wider economy.