One in four deaths but still no national plan

It’s Australia’s greatest killer, but we still don’t know if what we’re doing for cardiovascular disease is working. So what would help?

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We all know that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the nation’s biggest killers. It claims a life every 12 minutes and causes one in four deaths.

But despite the massive impact, there isn’t any consistent national data on whether the policies, programs and treatments are delivering the best outcomes.

According to a report released by the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA), we need national data to evaluate what works, track outcomes and benchmark care.

In response to these concerns, ACvA held a National Cardiovascular Data Summit, bringing together clinicians, researchers, state and territory health leaders, federal government agencies, industry representatives, technology experts and consumers to examine the problem and recommend a path forward.

They have released a set of recommendations in their report Australia’s Heart and Stroke Data Challenge – Recommendations from the National CVD Data Summit

Current knowledge relies heavily on death registration from the National Mortality Database and incomplete sources including hospital billing data, national clinical quality registries, and health surveys of just 20,000 Australians every three years.

“We currently collect CVD health data in different systems such as electronic medical records or stand-alone registries, providing different information in different ways,” said Professor Dominique Cadilhac (Monash University, and co-director ACvA Big data Flagship) who chaired the Data Summit Advisory Committee, and is executive director of the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry. 

It means there isn’t comprehensive information about risk factors, disease progression, treatments and patient outcomes.

 “This fragmented data landscape makes it difficult to see the big picture. We also have a complex health system divided across state, territory and federal responsibilities,” Professor Cadilhac said.

“Nationally, this means we’re missing key opportunities to monitor and benchmark care, improve care quality, target research where it’s most needed, track impact and ultimately, reduce disability and save lives from CVD.” 

“We can’t improve what we don’t measure,” said ACvA president Professor Jamie Vandenberg.

“Despite major investment in Australia’s health data systems, there’s agreement that we still don’t have the depth of clinical data we need on risk factors, disease progression, treatments or patient outcomes.”

This contrasts with cancer, which has recorded every diagnosis since 1982.

“This comprehensive cancer data has contributed to the world-leading survival rates and evidence-based treatment improvements we see in Australia today,” the report said.

They believe a solution is achievable and have the following five recommendations:

1. Establish a national CVD data leadership body.

2. Develop a national CVD minimum dataset.
3. Address system integration problems.
4. Use AI and emerging technologies to unlock data.
5. Secure sustainable long-term funding.

Professor Vandenberg highlighted that genuine consensus across an entire sector is rare.

“When it emerges on both the problem and the solution, it signals a critical moment for action,” he said.  

Download the complete report here.