RCP responds to NICE guidance on prevention of cardiovascular disease

Tuesday, 22 June 2010 12:00 AM

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians said in response to the NICE guidance on the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD):

On the subject of the NICE guidance:

"This year alone nearly two hundred thousand people in the UK are going to die prematurely from cardiovascular complications. In addition to its absolute effect, CVD will also have a devastating impact on efforts to reduce health inequalities, with those afflicted being more likely to come from some of our poorest communities. The NICE guidance demonstrates conclusively why we need to change radically our approach to this vast and silent killer. Ten years of personalised healthcare interventions have simply not made a sufficient dent in the overall toll. Simultaneously, major population oriented measures around advertising and smoking in public places have been shown to have a marked positive impact on public health."

"Many of the diet-related recommendations made by NICE have the added benefit of costing the public purse little to nothing, while creating an opportunity to reduce the tens of billions of pounds of associated costs the UK loses every year to heart disease. Banning trans-fats, reducing salt consumption and saturated fat levels in processed food may initially pose operational challenges for manufacturers, but the profits of private firms ought not to take precedence when compared with the health of the more than four million people at risk in this country."

On the subject of last week's European parliament's vote rejecting the principle of the EU wide introduction of the Food Standard Agency's front of pack 'traffic light' labelling system:

"The vote last week in Europe rejecting traffic light labelling reflected the sheer lobbying power and financial resources of the food industry. It is undoubtedly a huge victory for manufacturers. But the UK government must not allow this setback to undermine its own, evidenced backed, national traffic light labelling scheme. Despite opposition from major retailers like Tesco and large multinational firms, some of the UK's most prominent high street names have gone ahead and embraced traffic lights on their own brands. This hard won progress should not be easily given up."

Tags: