Tackling Cardiovascular Disease in the Asia Pacific Region
A Lancet Commission
Tackling Cardiovascular Disease in the Asia Pacific Region: A Lancet Commission
Developing a roadmap for region-specific solutions, fostering collaboration and promoting innovation, to enhance cardiovascular outcomes and improve the health & well-being of millions across APAC
About the Commission
This Commission brings together a diverse, multidisciplinary group of regional and international experts to comprehensively examine the burden of cardiovascular disease, understand the challenges to effective care, and offer evidence-based, context-sensitive recommendations that can catalyse action.
Our goal is to produce a roadmap of regionally relevant, scalable solutions for improving cardiovascular health and health systems, informed by the diverse needs and contexts of populations across the region.
The Challenge
The Asia Pacific region houses 60% of the world’s population.
Home to 4.3 billion people, the region embodies extraordinary cultural, geographical, and socioeconomic diversity.
Deaths attributed to CVD are on the rise in the Asia Pacific.
The Global Burden of Disease study projects that from 2025 to 2050 there will be an increase in deaths attributable to cardiovascular death in the region by 13-45%.
The Asia Pacific is poorly represented in clinical trials
Despite carrying a significant disease burden, the representation of people from the Asia Pacific region in cardiometabolic clinical trials range from 8-10%.
Previous global strategies have often faltered in the diverse contexts of the Asia Pacific — in terms of income, access to care, ethnic and genetic variation, and sociocultural context — underscoring the need for nuanced and locally adapted responses. We are therefore committed to fostering robust dialogue among Commissioners and stakeholders, including clinicians, researchers, policymakers, community leaders, and patients, to craft a region-specific roadmap grounded in the realities of the communities we serve.