Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes: Policies for Better Health and Quality of Care

Since mid-1980s, the mortality from CVD has decreased at a much faster pace than the OECD average, reaching one of the lowest CVD mortality rates in the OECD at 187 per 100 000 population after France, Japan and Korea (Figure 1). Likewise, potential years of life lost, a commonly used measure of premature mortality, at 269 per 100 000 population for diseases of the circulatory system in 2011, is much lower than the OECD average of 581 (by using the age limit of 70). However, the diabetes prevalence is 7.6%, higher than the OECD average of 6.9%, and the number of patients with end-stage kidney failure (ESKF) is 113 per 100 000 population, higher than the OECD average of 101.