Absolute cardiovascular disease risk and lipid-lowering therapy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

Calabria and colleagues1 report that, overall, 9.8% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are at high absolute cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, reflecting how poorly Australia supports the social and cultural determinants of health for the First Australians. However, this is a different nuance from their statement: “Absolute CVD risk is high among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have median age of 23 years,2 and only 1.1% of those in the 18–24 age group are at high risk.