Close collaboration with national cardiovascular societies, mutual understanding and support. These are key areas for a successful shift in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, according to European Society of Cardiology President Franz Weidinger. “ESC can help but it really is at the national level. It is between national cardiovascular societies and their governments and health ministries that things can happen and improve. This conference is great to show how to move forward,“ he said at the European Cardiology Conference, which The Healthcare Daily hosted on 20 June at the IKEM Congress Hall in Prague.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Europe and worldwide. It is therefore essential that measures are taken to address and improve prevention and treatment. „It is not only due to an ageing population, but also to premature deaths. Particularly alarming are the numbers of deaths from cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries,“ Weidinger pointed out, adding that work is needed to better control risk factors in patients that can be prevented through consistent prevention. „It is important to control risk factors even after cardiovascular events, that is, to control high blood pressure, continued smoking, physical inactivity, high LDL cholesterol,“ he commented.
During his lecture, Weidinger also stressed the importance of better informing politicians in European countries about the risks of heart disease, even though he said this may sound trivial. „We have to be persistent if we want to raise awareness of these diseases among politicians in European countries. We have to explain and promote cardiovascular health and a healthy lifestyle. European citizens need to be better educated in this area, and modifiable risk factors need to be better controlled,“ he outlined the basic steps European countries should take. He also stressed that individual governments should support measures to reduce air pollution.
Unified approach and quality data collection
The main goal of the European Conference of Cardiology was to promote discussion on the development of plans to address cardiovascular disease, both at national and European Union level. The conference was also attended in person by the Minister of Health, Vlastimil Válek, whose presence was greatly appreciated by the President of the European Society of Cardiology.
“The Minister of Health of the Czech Republic was an eye-opener for me. A politician like him, staying for more than one hour at a cardiology conference, is really great. He was listening, he was participating, he made good comments. It was really exemplary for the ESC as well, because what we want to do is to closely collaborate with national cardiovascular societies,” he commented on the presence of the Health Minister.
According to Weidinger, there are huge inequalities in access to cardiovascular care between EU member states, which need to be levelled out in the future. „The European Society of Cardiology will prioritize quality data collection, research, better digital literacy and new technologies over the next five years,“ he stressed. „Digital technology is very important for health promotion. To harness digital health technology, to improve risk factor control and disease management, is one of our strategic goals in the ESC.“
„One country may follow the previous one in adopting a cardiovascular health plan. This is something new, I remember the time when we were too late to prioritize cardiovascular disease in the EU presidency, but this conference shows a completely different picture,” Weidinger concluded.
The Healthcare Daily would like to thank the general partner of the conference, Novartis, and partners Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, General Health Insurance Company, RBP Health Insurance Company, Ministry of the Interior Public Health Insurance Fund and Amgen for their support.
The European Cardiology Conference will be the focus of future articles.
Nina Slivková
Photo by Martin Kovář
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