The new American Heart Association 2020 goal: achieving ideal cardiovascular health.

Cardiovascular diseases and stroke remain major threats to the public health of every nation and are expected to increase over the next 10 years. Many of the key metrics in the 2010 goal of the American Heart Association were achieved early, including exceeding a 25% reduction in deaths from cardiac disease and stroke. The new 2020 strategic goal for the American Heart Association (AHA) calls for improving the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20% while continuing to decrease deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20%. The AHA has identified Life's Simple 7 as the key health factors aimed at achieving ideal cardiovascular health.