New Report Calls for Increased Stakeholder Efforts to Drive Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Singapore

The Singapore Heart Foundation, the Singapore Cardiac Society and the Academy of Medicine, Singapore in partnership with Amgen, champions a population health approach to prevent cardiovascular disease

Singapore, 5 March 2024 – A white paper released by the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF), the Singapore Cardiac Society (SCS) and the Academy of Medicine, Singapore (AMS), highlights the need for greater efforts to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Singapore and outlines a strategy and framework for the primary and secondary prevention of CVD in patients and survivors.

The white paper proposes a multi-stakeholder three-pronged approach in achieving good CVD outcomes. The three-pronged approach includes:

1. Equipping clinicians with the latest clinical guidelines in addressing the management of five main modifiable cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, namely hypertension, dyslipidaemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity and smoking, to support decision-making and to ensure that patients receive optimal care.
2. A collaborative patient education through cooperation between healthcare professionals and community partners, emphasising ‘8 Enablers to Fight 5’, which highlight 8 steps to manage the 5 main controllable cardiovascular risk factors, will be spearheaded by the SHF with the support of the SCS and the Chapter of Cardiologists of AMS to counter myths, misconceptions and fake news about heart disease and its treatments in the community.
3. Support for integrated care, including access to cardiac rehabilitation in the community, improved referral processes and access to nutrition or dietary counselling and tobacco cessation, optimal use of information technology, and continued CV research that ensure the optimal delivery of care.

Singapore faces an important challenge as CVD continues to pose a heavy burden. Almost 1 out of 3 deaths in Singapore is due to heart disease or stroke. With Singapore’s rapidly ageing population, the incidence of AMI and Stroke is expected to rise. The Singapore Myocardial Infarction Registry showed the number of heart attacks increased from 8,014 in 2011 to 12,403 in 2021¹. Similarly, the Singapore Stroke Registry showed that the number of strokes increased from 6,143 episodes in 2011 to 9,680 episodes in 2021².

With higher rates of treatments (both surgical and minimally-invasive) and medicines, the mortality rate of heart attacks has been decreasing over the past decade³ – even though more people are having heart attacks, more are surviving. This brings a new set of unique patient needs for CV survivors to manage their CV risks as studies have repeatedly shown that individuals experiencing CVD events have a significantly elevated risk of further events . There is a need to optimise the CV health of not only those who have yet to suffer a CV event but survivors too.

Dr Low Lip Ping, Chairman Emeritus of the Singapore Heart Foundation, said, “With concerted efforts from various stakeholders including healthcare professionals, policymakers, community partners, and with the cooperation of community members, we will be closer to achieving the vision of proactive prevention of CVD.”

Prof Tan Huay Cheem, Chairman of the Singapore Heart Foundation, commented: “This white paper provides important, practical and key consensus messages for clinical management of common cardiovascular risk factors that healthcare practitioners will find it useful and easy to apply in their daily practice.”

This white paper was developed by SHF and supported by unrestricted grants from Amgen, a leading global biotechnology company. The unrestricted grants provide full support and flexibility to researchers and experts to pursue knowledge and solutions that can significantly impact the future of healthcare.

In conjunction with the release of the white paper, SHF and Amgen have also launched a campaign titled “Heart-Pressed for Time”, which aims to raise awareness on the importance of protecting one’s heart health and bring attention to how survivors can effectively manage their CVD risk to prevent another cardiac incident.

The “Heart-Pressed for Time” campaign will unfold a multitude of educational content, such as a poignant video chronicling a patient’s inspiring recovery journey, and a series of visually engaging infographics that will be amplified across various communication platforms. The campaign will also include a seminar targeted at healthcare professionals. Renowned cardiologists will spearhead this session, delivering invaluable insights and fostering a collective commitment to advancing cardiovascular healthcare practice. The campaign will also include a thought-provoking talk designed to broaden public awareness, and reinforce the importance of proactive health measures.

SHF will also continue its population-wide efforts to drive primary and secondary prevention of CVD. SHF will focus on helping the public with blood pressure and blood cholesterol management and helping the public embrace heart-healthy lifestyle habits at various events throughout the year. The first of such events is the May BP Measurement Month. More event details will be provided at a later date.

For more information and to download the full white paper, please visit: https://doi.org/10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2023141

References

¹National Registry of Diseases Office. Singapore Myocardial Infarction Registry Annual Report 2021. Available at https://www.nrdo.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider3/default-document-library/smir-annual-report-2021-(web)_final.pdf?sfvrsn=3418ed95_0. Accessed 26 October 2023.

²National Registry of Diseases Office Singapore. Stroke Registry Annual Report 2021. Available at https://www.nrdo.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider3/default-document-library/ssr-annual-report-2021_web.pdf?sfvrsn=7d63ee29_0. Accessed 29 February 2024.

³National Registry of Diseases Office. Singapore Myocardial Infarction Registry Annual Report 2021. Available at https://www.nrdo.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider3/default-document-library/smir-annual-report-2021-(web)_final.pdf?sfvrsn=3418ed95_0. Accessed 26 October 2023.