Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which include cardiovascular diseases, contribute to 63 % of mortality globally. Much as NCDs have been associated with affluent societies of the high income countries, the fact is that 80 % of mortality due to NCDs occurs in low and middle income countries (WHO). NCDs will continue to be a global public health challenge due to the fact that 29 % mortality occurs in persons below 60 years of age. The cardiovascular risk factors are present in an increasingly large proportion of the young generations. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) account for most NCD deaths, about 17.3 million people annually, followed by cancers (7.6 million), respiratory diseases (4.2 million), and diabetes (1.3 million) (The World Health Organization 2011).

The burden of NCDs is not only associated with human suffering but also with economic consequences. Every 10 % increase in the prevalence of NCDs is associated with 0.5 % decrease in annual economic growth. These costs are estimated to increase over the next two decades, costing as much as US$47 trillion (The World Economic Forum and the Harvard School of Public Health 2011). In Sweden alone, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and unhealthy eating habits are estimated to cost the society about 6 billion euros per year (Linell et al. 2013).

The UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2011 marked the beginning of an increased global focus and a growing political commitment at a high level to take urgent action on NCDs (UN summit, New York, September 2011).

The WHO has taken further steps including demonstrating an overview of the global burden of NCDs and providing a WHO action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013–2020 (The World Health Organization 2013a, b). Both the curative and mainly the preventive strategies are needed. Prevention of unhealthy lifestyles can reduce 75 % of CVD, stroke, type-2 diabetes, and 40 % of cancers (The World Health Organization 2011).

The epidemiologic evidence of NCDs indicates that coronary heart disease (CHD) is the largest contributor to social disparities in disability and premature death. Women are particularly vulnerable to CHD given the social, gender, and economic inequalities that create inequities in access to critical health services (including prevention), exposures to various risk factors, health information, health-promoting and life-saving resources (Wamala and Lynch 2002).