Heart disease is Southeast Asia's biggest killer after 30-year surge, new research reveals
The number of people with cardiovascular disease surged by 148 per cent in Southeast Asia over the past three decades, with the condition becoming the region's leading cause of mortality and morbidity, according to new research.
A total of 37 million people in the region suffered from cardiovascular disease in 2021 and 1.7 million died from it. The findings by researchers at Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the National University of Singapore are based on analysis of health data between 1990 and 2021 from 10 Southeast Asian countries that make up the
Asean bloc.
The results, published this week in a special edition of The Lancet Public Health dedicated to the region, highlight the growing burden of public health, including cardiovascular disease, mental disorders, smoking and road injuries. The main reasons contributing to cardiovascular disease were high systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, air pollution, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and tobacco use.
Dietary risks and high systolic blood pressure are two of the main contributors to the region's heart disease epidemic. Photo: Shutterstock
The ageing population in the region also contributes to the big jump in case numbers, according to Marie Ng, the lead author and affiliate associate professor at IHME and associate professor at NUS.
'Without immediate action from each of the countries, these preventable health conditions will worsen causing more death and disability across Asean,' said Ng, who sought proper resource allocation from governments.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the incidence of deaths due to cardiovascular disease rose more than predicted and a separate study from 2023 flagged the risk of increase in cardiovascular disease in children born to mothers infected with Covid during pregnancy.
The latest study published in The Lancet Public Health found that more than 80 million people in Association of Southeast Asian Nations' member states suffered from major mental disorders, 70 per cent higher than in 1990. A closer look by age showed 15- to 19-year-olds had the steepest climb in prevalence at nearly 11 per cent.
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