On 18 November, the heart failure community, joined by members of the diabetes and kidney health communities, convened in the European Parliament for a high-level panel discussion hosted by MEP Romana Jerković and chaired by HFPN Network Director, Ed Harding.
At this critical juncture, as the EU drafts its Cardiovascular Health Plan, the event brought together policymakers, clinicians, patient representatives and researchers from across Europe to highlight the urgent need for heart failure to be recognised as a priority in EU cardiovascular policy.
Chair of the MEP Interest Group on Cardiovascular Health and Lead Rapporteur for the INI Report on an EU Cardiovascular Diseases Strategy, and event host, MEP Jerković highlighted the importance of prevention in cardiovascular care. The event aimed to showcase how the EU can guide Member States toward better heart failure prevention, and implement screening practices that support early diagnosis and efficient referral to comprehensive, high-quality care.
Keynote speakers, Dr Brenda Moura and Penilla Gunther, evidenced it is essential for the EU Cardiovascular Health Plan to sufficiently address heart failure. Dr Moura drew on data from the landmark PORTHOS study to show that heart failure is both endemic and growing in Europe, with Ms Gunther highlighting the significant gender disparities in diagnosis and care.
While the challenge is large, the panellists spoke with optimism about the potential to improve heart failure outcomes and shared examples
of where this is already being done across Europe.
This starts with identifying people at risk early: Dr Michel Jadoul and Elisabeth Dupont spoke to the prevalence of heart failure among people with chronic kidney disease and diabetes.
“All patients with CKD are considered as being at risk of HF” Michel Jadoul, European Kidney Health Alliance Co-President
Professor Ken McDonald and Dr Toni Bayes-Genis showcased natriuretic peptide testing as a feasible and cost-effective method to screen for heart failure, enabling preventive measures and early detection. However, for this to reach people who need it, we must have ‘access, awareness and reimbursement’.
And for screening to be effective, Professor McDonald and Elisabeth Dupont highlighted the importance of ensuring access to onward, quality integrated care, sharing examples of successful delivery from Ireland and Portugal. Professor Salvatore Di Somma emphasised how telemedicine can substantially reduce hospital appointments, while improving access to cardiac rehabilitation and overall quality of life – citing data from Italy on how effective this has been to date.
Amidst the lively discussion, speakers concluded that while solutions and improvements are available, they must be implemented at scale and across countries. Steven Macari called for tangible commitments to address heart failure in the upcoming EU strategy.
With the EU Cardiovascular Health Plan and the European Parliament’s Own Initiative report soon to be published, the speakers emphasised that this is a pivotal moment to ensure heart failure is at the heart of European health policy.
Speakers included:
