Impression of our symposium held at the WONCA 2025 World Conference in Lisbon
The EPCCS, as WONCA special interest group held a symposium during the WONCA 2025 World Conference
As educational service the lectures can be viewed here:
The cause of most excess deaths in most countries during the COVID pandemic were from cardio-metabolic-renal disease (CMR) events in susceptible patients. Excess mortality rates continue post pandemic and are mainly from CMR causes. Health systems are failing to identify and mitigate the common risk factors that drive CMR disease despite the WHO’s priority call for increased focus on disease prevention and long-term condition (LTC) management.
Primary care has a key role to play in disease prevention and as much as 40% of GP caseload will relate to CMR disease. However, CMR has the largest evidence base in medicine and is the focus for much innovation in healthcare interventions given the importance of CMR disease to health systems. Alongside managing the classic CMR risk factors the impact of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on CMR outcomes and the options for risk reduction in CKD has a newer evidence base.
The most important lesson from the pandemic is health systems are failing to invest sufficiently in disease prevention and especially CMR disease prevention where the evidence base grows. The importance of CKD a key learning for primary care
