Martin Salter, MP for Reading West, has this week pledged his support to tackle heart and circulatory disease - the UK’s biggest killer.

Mr Salter pledged his support as heart patients, carers, and medics who descended on the Houses of Parliament this week demanding a renewed commitment from all political parties to tackle heart and circulatory disease - the UK’s biggest killer - during the next decade.

Almost one hundred British Heart Foundation supporters lobbied their local MPs with calls for a planned and published approach to protect the heart health of the nation. They were backed by a 150,000 signature petition from people calling for a new heart plan.

Mr Salter said:-

“Heart and circulatory disease will affect almost every family at some stage in their lives. That’s why I’m pledging my support to tackle heart and circulatory disease at the next general election and beyond.”

While the number of people dying from cardiovascular disease has fallen, the UK still lags behind other western countries.

Peter Hollins, Chief Executive at the BHF said:-

“There has been tremendous progress over the last ten years - but heart disease is responsible for a third of all deaths in the UK. We need to go further and faster to beat this.

“Patients still don’t receive life saving treatments like cardiac rehabilitation - if this were a pill it would have been on the NHS years ago. Heart and circulatory disease remains disproportionately high amongst people living in disadvantaged communities. We need a Government that is willing to tackle the UK’s biggest killer head on with a new heart plan to ensure patients are given the heart health care they deserve.”