Australian health groups want the Federal Government to introduce heart check-ups for every citizen over 45 years of age similar to the cancer screening programs.

A report said that 71 percent of patients who are at risk of cardiovascular disease received insufficient treatment following which this demand was raised.

Researchers at The George Institute for International Health in Sydney found that either these people were not identified as needing a cholesterol test or they were not prescribed the right treatment.

The three health groups - The National Stroke Foundation, the Heart Foundation, Diabetes Australia and Kidney Health Australia want more to be done to save lives and demand a cardiovascular assessment by their GP every five years for citizens aged 45-74.

This way people with high risk can be detected and regular check-ups can be carried out for them. Similarly people with low-risk can be checked up every two years.

National Stroke Foundation chief executive Erin Lalor said, “United Kingdom had introduced such a scheme which had proved highly cost effective. It resulted in fewer hospital admissions and less treatment overall”.