The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies cardiovascular disease (CVD) as the leading cause of death globally. Despite being largely preventable, CVD imposes a major economic burden on APEC economies, exceeding USD72 billion annually in just seven economies, with indirect costs like lost productivity surpassing direct medical spending.

This project supports APEC economies in developing comprehensive evidence informed CVD strategies and policy roadmaps. It aligns with the APEC Health Working Group’s priorities on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), universal health coverage, and resilient health systems using a whole-of-government and multi-sectoral approach. It also builds on outcomes of the APAC Heart Summit, co-hosted by Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health, National health Security Office, and the APAC CVD Alliance and regional Call to Action.

The project will deliver a CVD roadmap for APEC economies, grounded in epidemiological and economic evidence, and identify scalable, context-appropriate interventions. It aims to strengthen cross-economy collaboration, promote policy innovation, and support APEC’s broader goals of inclusive growth and workforce productivity by reducing the burden of CVD across the APEC economies.