For more than 20 years, cardiovascular diseases have been the leading cause of impairment, invalidity and mortality among the population in developed and developing countries. The widespread of these diseases is varying between 8.000 - 14.000 per 100 000 of inhabitants, depending on the level of development of each country. The presentation shows the age, social and sex structure of the population affected by these diseases, in the world and in our country. In last 10 years, in developed countries, cardiovascular diseases have showed decreasing trend and they have been successfully prevented and controlled, as opposing to the developing countries, particularly those in transition, where the constant growth has been observed, causing early death and long-term invalidity among the population. Hereby, authors are giving the quantification and trends of cardiovascular diseases in the countries of different level of development, in the past and in the future, as well as projection of these trends up to 2010. Besides the cardiovascular diseases, we are showing the commonest risk factors that are causing the massive incidence of this disease with particular emphasis on their social-medical aspects in the countries in transition, including Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases, risk factors, countries in transition, Bosnia and Herzegovina, frequency and projection