The plan aims to decrease the prevalence of high blood pressure in Canadians aged 18 to 74 by 32 per cent by 2020. (Michael Holahan, Associated Press)

Canada could save about $5 billion a year in health-care costs by lowering the number of heart attacks and strokes among the country's population, according to a new report.

The Conference Board of Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada released the report, titled Canadian Heart Health Strategy: Risk Factors and Future Cost Implications, on Monday.

The report's authors analyzed the potential savings if the five-step strategy were implemented. They examined direct costs, of such things as hospital stays, physicians and medications, as well as indirect costs, such as short- and long-term disability payments.

Between 2005 and 2020, Canada could save a total of $76.4 billion if some of the targets were met, the team estimated.

"The Canadian Cardiovascular Society, which represents Canada's cardiovascular physicians, firmly believes that the heart health strategy and action plan is the prescription that Canada urgently needs to address the key cardiovascular risk factors and reduce and even eliminate the extreme burden of heart disease and stroke on Canadians," Vancouver cardiologist Dr. Charles Kerr, the society's president, said at a news conference in Ottawa.

If the plan is adopted, the lower prevalence rate in risk factors would pay off in 452,000 fewer cases of ischemic heart disease and 150,000 fewer cases of stroke by 2020, said report author Louis Thériault.

By 2020, the plan aims to:

• Decrease the prevalence of high blood pressure in adult Canadians age 18 to 74 by 32 per cent (from 22 per cent in 1992 to 15 per cent).
• Reduce the overall smoking rate by 25 per cent. In 2005, 14.9 per cent of females and 18.2 per cent of males smoked daily in Canada.
• Increase the proportion of Canadian children and adults eating at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day by 20 per cent. Currently, 34 per cent of Canadians lack fruits and vegetables in their daily diet.
• Increase the proportion of Canadian children and adults who are physically active by 20 per cent. In 2005, almost half of Canadians age 12 and older were considered physically inactive.
• Decrease the rate of Canadian adults who are overweight and obese by 20 per cent. In 2005, the overall prevalence of obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 or greater, in Canada was 14.2 per cent.

The group hopes the federal budget on March 4 will include financing for the strategy that was proposed last year.