FEWER people in Wales are dying of cardiovascular disease, fewer are suffering from heart disease, and more lives are being saved through early diagnosis, a new report reveals.

There was a 12 per cent fall in annual deaths from cardiovascular disease between 2010 and 2014, according to the heart disease annual report from the Welsh Government.

It also reports that the number of people in Wales being treated by their GP for coronary heart disease (CHD) has fallen by more than 9,000 since 2008/09.

And in 2014/15 there were 121,442 people living with CHD in Wales - as recorded on the GP disease register - a fall of 1,246 compared with the previous year.

The rate of hospital admissions for both cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease has fallen during the past five years too, by 10 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

While advances in medicine have helped drive these reductions, the report also highlights improved detection of cardiovascular and heart diseases among GPs, the smoking ban in enclosed public places, and lifestyle improvements.

It highlights too the development of services across Wales and in different parts of Wales, geared toward tackling cardiovascular and heart diseases, and their causes.

Among these is Wales' first adult weight management service, launched by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in Gwent in 2014, which enables healthcare professionals to refer obese patients to a single point of access.

Between January 2014 and March 2015, around 3,800 referrals were made and 1,815 patients used the service, with a quarter losing more than five per cent of their body weight.

Health secretary Vaughan Gething said the report shows that "significant progress" is being made in treating heart disease and in supporting people who have experienced cardiovascular problems.

“The steady decline we’ve seen in the rate of people dying from all cardiovascular disease, alongside the fact that fewer people are suffering from heart disease is something we’re proud of," he said.

He acknowledged too that there is room for improvement in some aspects of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease care.

These include late diagnosis, the report concluding that there are still too many people diagnosed through emergency routes and suffering heart attacks.

Access to diagnostic tests needs improving, as do treatment times, and access to cardiac rehabilitation needs to be quicker.