Madrid reached third position in the ranking City Heart Rate Index, prepared by the World Heart Federation (WHF) with the collaboration of Novartiswhich assesses the efforts made by the world’s major cities to combat cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the leading cause of death worldwide.
The report highlights the leadership of the Spanish capital in actions aimed at promoting cardiovascular health, highlighting its comprehensive approach and promoting some of its successful policies such as the expansion of low-emission zones and the application of stricter limits on polluting vehicles. Cardiovascular diseases continue to represent one of the leading causes of death and it is important to continue to advance measures to promote prevention.
He City Heart Rate Index is designed to serve as a comprehensive reference point which ranks 50 cities around the world based on its efforts to protect the health of its population with measures that include governance, urban planning and health services. It reveals that more than 55% of the world’s population resides in urban areas, which highlights the urgent need for specific urban strategies to combat cardiovascular diseases.
The World Heart Federation (WHF) today launched a first assessment of cities’ efforts to combat cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death, including premature death, worldwide.
A contrast is also revealed in the different approaches taken to address threats to heart health, showing a correlation between high scores and longer life expectancy, as well as the inequality created by living in low-income areas.
The index is designed to serve as a comprehensive benchmark that ranks 50 cities around the world on their efforts to protect the health of their populations with measures including governance, planning and health services. It highlights the challenges of data collection, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and the need to implement and evaluate robust measures.
Cities in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region dominate the top spots in the index, with Hong Kong taking the top spot as the most efficient city. Successful policies include the expansion of Seoul’s emission zones, smog free tour in Beijing and the establishment of checks in Bangkok for adults over 21 with diabetes and hypertension.
Hong Kong was closely followed by London, which has had good results in introducing city-wide policies and policies addressing health promotion and specific health risks such as unhealthy diets, smoking and air pollution, in particular by expanding its Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in 2023 to cover an entire urban area, adding cycle lanes and banning advertising of junk food.
Madrid ranked number 3 in the index, followed by Berlin and New York, which are located in countries with a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease and demonstrate proactive measures to address cardiovascular health in their urban heart health initiatives. Other cities, including Singapore and Toronto, ranked highly due to their excellence in data collection and proactive health measures.
Paris and Rome are the lowest-ranked European cities in the index, while African cities and Middle Eastern countries face significant constraints in terms of funding and political support.
However, the good performance of several middle-income cities, such as Jakarta, shows that success does not depend solely on financial resources.
Key findings of the report:
Data collection: Critical data for understanding cardiovascular disease risk factors are sometimes not collected at the city level, hampering public health interventions. Only Jakarta and Singapore have comprehensive data on all 12 available indicators. indicators, demonstrating your commitment to understanding and addressing cardiovascular health.
Gaps in policy implementation: Limited data availability has impacted the prioritization of some health risks. Although data on some health risks, including
Obesity, diabetes and hypertension suggest that these areas are priorities. Other risk factors such as low vegetable consumption, high cholesterol and trans fat intake receive less attention. Furthermore, only 22% of cities have data on cholesterol levels and only 14% on trans fat consumption, creating barriers to implementing informed policies.
Correlation with life expectancy: Higher index scores are associated with longer life expectancy and healthier ageing. Cities with better physical environments and health services, such as Helsinki and London, have higher healthy life expectancy at age 60.
The richest cities have an advantage: Low- and middle-income countries face limitations in finance, infrastructure (including green spaces and public transport) and social determinants such as employment and education, which impacted their position at the bottom of the list.
Commissioned by Novartis and conducted independently by Economist Impact, the City Heartbeat Index aims to raise awareness of the importance of focusing on cardiovascular disease at the city level.
“The City Heartbeat Index is a call to action. By showing what cities are doing at the urban level, we can inspire other urban centres to adopt similar strategies,” said Dr Jagat Narula, President-elect of the World Heart Foundation. “The burden of cardiovascular disease is driving action because cities in the highest-burden countries are increasing their focus on understanding, preventing and treating cardiovascular disease, which in turn is associated with longer life expectancy,” said Dr Narula.
