AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE CHOLESTEROL DEBATE

For the past 5 years there has been an intensive debate and a number o f conflicting guidelines suggesting what general practitioners (GPs) s hould do to screen and manage hyperlipidaemia. At a WONCA seminar in V ancouver in 1992, policies and guidelines from Canada, the UK, The Net herlands, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the USA were reviewed. It was con cluded that cholesterol policy and guidelines tend to be influenced mo re by political and economic factors than by evidence of health benefi t. International guidelines for cholesterol screening and management w ould be of minimal value, as GPs would have to interpret the epidemiol ogical evidence of benefit from lipid screening and lipid lowering str ategy in the context of each patient to arrive at optimum management.