The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7490 p208
23 February 2008

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Target for reduced cardiovascular deaths reached five years early

Doubling the number of prescriptions written for statins over the past three years has contributed to the Department of Health’s target of reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease for people under 75 years by 40 per cent being reached five years early.

A progress report of the Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework, which was first published in 2000, says that other contributing factors include quicker delivery of thrombolysis for patients with myocardial infarction and a dramatic reduction in waiting times for heart surgery.

The report highlights that the NHS has been using information generated from “better care, better value” indicators (PJ, 28 October 2006, p506) to improve efficiency through prescribing of low-cost generic statins.

“This has already saved around £80m without compromising the effectiveness of treatment,” it adds.