RT Book, Section
A1 Gupta, Rajeev
A1 Joseph, Philip
A1 Rosengren, Annika
A1 Yusuf, Salim
A2 Fuster, Valentin
A2 Narula, Jagat
A2 Vaishnava, Prashant
A2 Leon, Martin B.
A2 Callans, David J.
A2 Rumsfeld, John S.
A2 Poppas, Athena
SR Print(0)
ID 1202443460
T1 Location and Level of Care, Education, Availability of Medicines, and Cardiovascular Mortality
T2 Fuster and Hurst's The Heart, 15e
YR 2022
FD 2022
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781264257560
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1202443460
RD 2024/04/18
AB Chapter  SummaryThis  chapter  discusses  societal  and  individual-level  social  determinants  of  cardiovascular  health.  Understanding  these  social  determinants  of  cardiovascular  health  is  important  for  improving  the  outcomes  among  individuals  and  the  community  through  better  prevention  and  treatments  for  ischemic  heart  disease  (IHD).  Epidemiological  studies  have  reported  that  populations  in  rural  and  underserved  urban  locations  have  greater  cardiovascular  events  and  mortality  than  urbanites  in  developed  and  developing  countries.  This  risk  is  mediated  through  location-based  disparities  in  health  care,  lower  educational  status  (a  marker  of  lower  socioeconomic  status),  and  lower  availability  and  affordability  of  medicines  (see  Fuster  and  Hurst’s  Central  Illustration).  Policy-level  interventions  that  focus  on  each  of  these  three  factors  are  needed  to  improve  quality  of  health  systems  and  health  care  in  these  underserved  locations.  Essential  to  this  improvement  is  the  requirement  for  novel  health  financing  mechanisms  to  provide  comprehensive  universal  primary  and  secondary  health  care,  especially  in  developing  countries.  High-quality  and  free  universal  health  care  are  crucial  for  improving  access  and  use  of  proven  medicines  and  other  interventions,  and  promotion  of  lifelong  adherence  can  lead  to  substantially  better  cardiovascular  health.