Restoring and extending secondary prevention

Abstract

Competing interests: We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and have no relevant interests to declare.

Politicians should back more radical action on primary prevention, says England’s CMO

“…Whitty was also asked about a recent editorial he co-wrote for The BMJ 3 in which he and colleagues argued for the restoration and extension of secondary prevention in the NHS that they warned had withered on the vine since the pandemic.…”

A peer says the government is “in deep shit,” and it couldn’t be more real

“…The chief medical officers of the UK nations explain that a meaningful share of the burden on health services is due to a predicted disruption of secondary prevention (doi:10.1136/bmj.p201). 18 They argue for urgently re-establishing secondary prevention and to widen it to groups that were previously hard to reach. It's a strategy they say is supported by some of the firmest evidence.…”

Stalled improvements in mortality and life expectancy predate the pandemic

“…The UK chief medical officers are right to be concerned about recent high mortality 1. They focus on the lower-than-expected uptake of important cardiovascular interventions, and how increasing uptake might help.…”

“…The UK Chief Medical Officers are rightly concerned about recent high mortality rates. 1 They focus on the lower-than-expected uptake of important cardiovascular interventions, and how increasing their uptake might help. 1 However, the framing of the causes of the high mortality is medicalised and individualised.…”

“…1 They focus on the lower-than-expected uptake of important cardiovascular interventions, and how increasing their uptake might help. 1 However, the framing of the causes of the high mortality is medicalised and individualised. 1 The stalled improvements in mortality, healthy life expectancy, and morbidity predate the pandemic, having been observed since around 2012 across the UK, 2 with mortality worsening for those living in the poorest areas.…”