Statistics

General Heart Statistics

• Cardiovascular disease (heart, stroke and blood vessel disease) is still the leading cause of death in New Zealand, accounting for 40% of deaths annually. [1]
• Every 90 minutes a New Zealander dies from coronary heart disease (16 deaths a day). [1]
• Many of these deaths are premature and preventable.
• Obesity is a risk factor for a number of diseases including coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis and some cancers. [2]
• One in twenty adults have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease. That's 161,000 adults and includes 118,500 with angina and 89,400 who have had a heart attack resulting in them being hospitalised. [2]
• Approximately one in two New Zealanders are obese or overweight. [1]
• One in five New Zealanders older than 15 smoke. [1]
• It is estimated that 5,000 people in New Zealand die prematurely from smoking each year - this equates to around 12 people a day dying from smoking. [3]

Women's Heart Disease

Worldwide 8.6 million women die from heart disease each year, accounting for a third of all deaths in women.

The picture of women’s heart health in New Zealand:

• 5084 Kiwi women died of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke, in 2009.
• That’s around 14 women dying on average every day. Close to 100 a week. 100 families broken apart.
• Sadly 658 women died from breast cancer in 2009.
• But let’s not lose sight that more than 7x the number of women died of cardiovascular disease.
• Of those deaths, 2514 women died of coronary heart disease (CHD)*
• That’s about 7 a day – 48 a week.
• CVD made up almost 35 percent of all deaths in women in 2009 – that’s reason enough to get women banding together and tackling this killer head on. Go Red here.
• Women who smoke risk having a heart attack 19 years earlier than non-smoking women.
• Nearly two-thirds of the deaths from heart attacks in women occur among those who have no history of chest pain.
• 42% of women who have heart attacks die within 1 year, compared to 24% of men.
• Under age 50, women’s heart attacks are twice as likely as men’s to be fatal.

Sources:

[1] Hay, D. 2004. cardiovascular Disease in New Zealand. 2004.
A Summary of Recent Statistical Information. National Heart Foundation of New Zealand.
[2] Ministry of Health. 2008. Portrait of Health. Key Results of the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey. Wellington: Ministry of Health.
[3] Ministry of Health. 2009. Implementing the ABC approch for Smoking Cessation. Framework and Work Programme. Wellington: Ministry of Health.
http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/cardiovasculardisease

For more heart statistics please visit the following sites:

• Statistics New Zealand
• Ministry of Health
• Department of Labour
• ACC