Comparable data on morbidity from CVD are more difficult to collect than mortality data, since there are many different measures of morbidity (e.g. prevalence, incidence, DALYs, years of healthy life lost etc.). At present, there is no routinely updated source of Europe-wide CVD morbidity data.

The WHO MONICA (monitoring trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease) project examined the incidence of major coronary events in 37 different populations in 21 countries (including 29 populations in 16 European countries). Although the data from the study are now more than 10 years old, it still represents the most recent Europe-wide comparable dataset on CVD morbidity. These populations are not necessarily representative of the countries in which they are located. Nevertheless the project has shown that the incidence of coronary events (a definite or likely myocardial infarction - heart attack) is higher in MONICA project populations in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe than in Southern and Western Europe. For example the coronary event rate for men aged 35 to 64 living in Warsaw (Poland) is nearly three times higher than it is in Catalonia (Spain); for women it is four times higher. The highest coronary event rates at the end of the project were found in Glasgow (United Kingdom) in both men and women. The geographical pattern in coronary event rates is similar to the pattern in death rates.

The results of the MONICA project also show that incidence of coronary events is falling rapidly in most of the MONICA project populations in Northern and Western Europe but is not falling as fast in the populations in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe and in some cases is rising in these populations. For example incidence rates for men aged 35 to 64 living in North Karelia (Finland) fell by 6.5% per year over the study period (1983 to 1996) but rose by 1.2% for men of the same age living in Kaunas (Lithuania). For women aged 35 to 64 living in North Karelia the incidence rate fell by 5.1% per year but rose by 2.7% per year for women living in Kaunas. The geographical pattern in trends in incidence rates is similar to the geographical pattern in trends in death rates.