Cardiometabolic prevention in Romania: a midsummer night's dream?

Cardiovascular mortality has decreased by 25% in Romania in the last 10 years, but it is still high despite renewed efforts between the Romanian Cardiac Societies and the government to increase life expectancy and decrease death rates through coronary heart disease or stroke. Ranking fifth among the European countries in terms of high cardiovascular risk, according to an ESC statistic, Romania has been struggling with hypertension as the leading risk factor (39.1%) together with hypercholesterolemia (39.1%), followed by smoking (26.7%) and obesity (21.3%) [1]. Another alarming fact is that the prevalence of insufficient physical activity in adults over 18 years of age is 25.3% (2010). Moreover, the prevalence of diabetes is estimated to be 11.6% in the population between 20 and 79 years of age (between 535 413 and 1 967 200 individuals). Newly reported cases represent 20.69% [2].