PEOPLE in Warrington are being urged to sign a petition calling on the Government to do more to help people affected by a potentially life-threatening condition.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is asking for support in its demand for a new Government plan to support those affected by heart and circulatory conditions.
People can sign the petition in their local
BHF charity shop in Buttermarket Street, Warrington or online at www.newheartplan.org.uk
The organisation says heart and circulatory disease is the UK’s biggest killer, claiming the lives of around 200,000 people each year. In Warrington it estimates that 127 people died prematurely from heart disease last year.
The current National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease for England comes to an end in 2009/10 and the society says there is no current plan to replace it.
Betty McBride, BHF director of policy and communications, said: “This isn’t a ‘job done’- heart disease remains the UK’s biggest single killer and the Government mustn’t be allowed to take its foot of the pedal on this. If that happens the undoubted progress we’ve made in recent years will unravel. Heart patients deserve better.”
Stroke and Cancer had plans and the Government had just published its new Dementia strategy.
She said: “The two million heart patients in England have every right to ask -where’s ours?
“The burden of cardiovascular disease is set to increase as more people are living longer with heart conditions. And with an increasing number of people overweight and obese the progress we’ve made could be reversed unless we make every effort to maintain momentum.”
