Progress in the fight against the five major causes of death, including plans to tackle cardiovascular disease (CVD), could save 30,000 lives by 2020, health secretary Jeremy Hunt has predicted.
Mr Hunt outlined his ambition to cut avoidable deaths from the five ‘major causes' - cancer, heart,disease, stroke, respiratory and liver disease - and to make life expectancy in England among the longest in Europe.
To coincide with the announcement, the DH has published a CVD outcomes strategy, which it is hoped will support the NHS and local authorities in achieving improved outcomes for those with or at risk of CVD.
More than 150,000 people under 75 die every year from cancer, heart, stroke, respiratory and liver disease - CVD accounted for about 30 per cent of all deaths in 2011.