What are cardiovascular conditions?
Cardiovascular conditions affect the heart and the large network of blood vessels in the body.
Common cardiovascular conditions include:
Cardiovascular diseases cause 27% of deaths in Australia. Around 1.2 million Australians have 1 or more heart or vascular conditions. For statistics about heart, stroke and vascular diseases in Australia, see the:
See healthdirect for more information about heart and cardiovascular conditions.
What are we doing about cardiovascular conditions?
Several programs and initiatives support treatment and management of cardiovascular conditions. We also fund research into cardiovascular conditions and maintain national monitoring and surveillance measures.
- The Medicare Benefits Schedule helps pay for patient care, including Chronic Disease Management plans and Heart Health Check.
- The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidises medicines used to treat vascular conditions and their symptoms. The Australian Government spends around $1.3 billion every year to subsidise medications for treating heart conditions and stroke.
- The Medical Research Future Fund and the National Health and Medical Research Council fund medical research into these conditions.
- The AIHW has a National Centre for Monitoring Chronic Conditions, which provides a big-picture view of chronic conditions in Australia.
Heart disease and stroke
We supported the Heart Foundation in partnership with the Stroke Foundation to develop a National Strategic Action Plan for Heart Disease and Stroke.
The Medical Research Future Fund and the National Health and Medical Research Council fund research into heart disease and stroke, including:
- $220 million over 10 years for the Cardiovascular Health Mission
- $24 million to support landmark research into cardiovascular disease by The George Institute for Global Health
- $1 million to the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital to develop, test and implement portable brain imaging tools in air and road ambulances, for early stroke diagnosis.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIWH) monitors and reports on heart, stroke and vascular conditions.
Childhood heart disease
We are addressing childhood heart disease at a national level via our National Strategic Action Plan for Childhood Heart Disease.
See more chronic conditions resources.