Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death and morbidity in the United Kingdom (UK) and carries with it a significant financial cost through health care resource use. More than one in three people die from CVD events, and the cost to the UK National Health Service (NHS) was £1.6 billion in 19961. The recently published MICRO-HOPE study evaluated the treatment of 3,577 patients at high risk for cardiovascular events from diabetes mellitus and demonstrated significant survival and morbidity benefits associated with ramipril.