Addressing cardiovascular health in a changed and changing world

“Cardiovascular disease is the biggest health challenge in the EU,” Brando Benifei MEP, Co-Chair of the MEP Heart Group.

Preventing and reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a European-wide health priority. CVD, primarily heart attack and stroke, is the leading cause of death and preventable illness in Europe. It affects over 60mn Europeans and strains local, national, and European health budgets.

‘Addressing cardiovascular health in a changed and changing world’, a Friends of Europe debate held in partnership with the European Alliance for Cardiovascular Health (EACH) and supported by the MEP Heart Group, took place on 16 May 2022, bringing together policymakers, researchers, health professionals and citizens to reflect upon ways to improve cardiovascular health in Europe.

The debate showed that we cannot focus only on what needs to be done, but how it is done. Participants raised the importance of health literacy and the implementation of digital solutions across the care pathway. They also discussed the impact of an ageing population on rising cases of CVD and increasing research needs.

Speakers stressed the need to make strategic adjustments. “We have shifted our strategy’s philosophy, moving from disease to health, from patients to citizens,” said Dr Héctor Bueno, Scientific Coordinator of Estrategia en Salud Cardiovascular (ESCAV), the new Spanish national strategy for cardiovascular health.

At the event, EACH unveiled the ‘European Cardiovascular Health Plan’. The ambitious strategy, which calls for the development of a European Observatory and a European Knowledge Centre for cardiovascular health, includes actions around prevention, risk assessment, data sharing and multidisciplinary care pathways.

“The EACH Action Plan for Cardiovascular Health provides a structure and strategy to tackle the problem in a coordinated way,” noted Stephan Achenbach, President of the European Society of Cardiology.

In line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals in healthcare, the EACH CVH Plan seeks to reduce premature and preventable CVD deaths in Europe by one-third in 2030. The strategy also promotes national CVH plans that can be tailored to meet national needs.

Spain, a country with 17 decentralised regions, recently developed a comprehensive national strategy for cardiovascular health that emphasises prevention, as well as treatment, and offers a model for coordinated, equitable health care between regions.

The EACH CVH Plan, which seeks to build on the EU ‘Healthier Together’ Non-Communicable Diseases Initiative, also emphasises access to high-quality, patient-centred healthcare for all and addresses existing inequities.

“Across Europe, we know the impact and prevalence of CVDs, which have a notably higher death rate in central and eastern Europe,” commented Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.

It is crucial to prioritise CVD prevention measures across Europe. The EU-funded YOUNG50 cardiovascular risk screening programme is an initiative that promotes healthy heart habits by reaching out to 50-year-olds with modifiable behavioural or medical risk factors, such as smoking, low physical activity, high body mass index or excessive alcohol consumption.

Yet, lifestyle and living conditions are just one of several causes of CVD. Other risk factors may be beyond the patient’s control – including environmental factors, such as exposure to chemicals and noise or air pollution. Inherited and genetic determinants also play a role, frequently impacting young patients.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to a decline in cardiovascular health, with health priorities across Europe shifting to address the pandemic, leaving CVD screening and management appointments cancelled or postponed. Furthermore, individuals with CVD were more severely impacted by COVID-19 disease.

“COVID-19 has shown that patients with cardiovascular disease are among the most vulnerable and that resilience to future health risks – such as new pandemics and climate change – requires cardiovascular health,” argued Achenbach.

To recover lost ground in the fight against CVD, it is crucial to highlight cardiovascular health by increasing prevention measures and health literacy, while ensuring that equitable access to high-quality, patient-centred screening and care exists across Europe.

CVD can affect anyone, and in the context of an aging European population, the time is particularly ripe to build a resilient, coordinated heart-healthy response that addresses existing inequalities between regions and countries and also ensures that every European citizen has the opportunity to live their best, healthiest life.

“A healthier European Union is a better European Union,” concluded Benifei.

View the EACH European Cardiovascular Health Plan