Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards the aim in the NHS 10 Year Plan to reduce preventable premature deaths from cardiovascular disease.

The Government is committed to ensuring that fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). A central mission of the Government is to build a health and care system fit for the future. To achieve this, it is crucial that we tackle preventable ill health, such as CVD, by ensuring that those at risk of developing or already living with the disease are identified and can be effectively treated.

The NHS Long Term Plan committed to improving the identification and treatment of CVD risk factors, such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, and atrial fibrillation. There has been significant progress since the plan was made in 2019, including that:

• 835,970 more people have been identified with hypertension since 2019, and 512,160 more treated to target, up to March 2024;
• 91.5% of those on the atrial fibrillation register were being treated with anticoagulants in March 2024, an increase from 87.3% in March 2020, and there has been a 10% increase in the number of people on the atrial fibrillation register over this period.; and
• 62.3% of people at risk of CVD are now treated with lipid lowering therapy, as of June 2024, an increase of 676,000 people since March 2021.