Javnozdravstveno značenje bolesti cirkulacijskoga sustava

According to the World Health Organization’s data, circulatory diseases are the world's leading cause of death, being responsible for the death of 17 million people annually, 5,5 million of them being in Europe. According to the data of the Croatian National Institute of Public Health, circulatory diseases are the leading cause of death in Croatia as well. In the year 2005, there were 26,029 recorded deaths caused by circulatory diseases, which accounted for 51% of the overall mortality. Basically, it means that one of the circula­ tory diseases was responsible for every second death in Croatia. The most common diagnostic subgroups when observing cause of death in the overall mortality from the circulatory diseases in Croatia were ischemic heart diseases with a share of 38,2% and cere­ brovascular diseases with a share of 31,3%. Circulatory diseases, as the most common cause of death in the modem world, with a significant share in premature mortality, morbidity and disability of the population, represent public health priority, which requires special attention and multiple intensification of the work on programs of disease prevention, early diagnosis and treatment, and patients' rehabilitation.