Project: Heart Failure Policy Summit 2024

Heart Failure Policy Summit 2024
The third international Heart Failure Policy Summit was held online on 9 and 11 April 2024

What was the Heart Failure Policy Summit 2024?

In April 2024, the Heart Failure Policy Network hosted a pivotal event in heart failure advocacy – the third international Heart Failure Policy Summit.

The virtual event was a unique global showcase for leaders from policy, academia, patient advocacy and clinical settings to discuss the latest national and international advances in heart failure care and policy change.

The 2024 Summit took place at an exciting time, when advances in research and treatment options and the advent of novel technologies are promising to reshape the landscape of heart failure care. A renewed focus on long-term sustainability in the context of healthy ageing and increased political attention on cardiovascular disease bring new political opportunities to argue the societal case for investment.

Our two sessions featured discussions among experts in policy and practice, with an emphasis on sustainable health system transformation.

The Summit provided heart failure champions from all sectors – from across the world – with an inspirational, relevant and highly effective discussion on what our goals must be to achieve better heart failure care for all. We showcased the key pioneers, arguments, opportunities and political developments that every committed advocate in heart failure needs to know about.

Agenda

The 2024 Summit featured two online sessions:

Heart failure as a top priority: the road to political commitment

Tuesday 9 April 2024 15.00–16.30 CEST (09.00–10.30 EDT)

The first session outlined how heart failure can be positioned as a strategic priority for building sustainable health systems. Expert speakers discussed ways to make a compelling business case for investing in heart failure care and how to link heart failure to the most pressing policy debates of 2024, including sustainability, value and equity.

This session showcased successful advocacy efforts, offering insight into securing government support for better heart failure diagnosis and care. There were panel discussions on achieving equitable access to NP testing, including case study examples from Lithuania and Greece and an introduction to the European Society for Cardiology’s Peptides for Life initiative. The session also covered trailblazing heart failure advocacy initiatives, such as Italy’s example of working with national health agencies to promote the roll-out of telemedicine for heart failure care; Canada’s National Heart Failure Policy Action Framework, with tangible targets for decision-makers; and BeatHF, the UK’s first national public awareness campaign for heart failure.

For full details about this year’s speakers, please see the speaker biographies.

 

Part 1: Heart failure in an evolving policy landscape

Welcome from the Heart Failure Policy Network

  • Ed Harding, Network Director, Heart Failure Policy Network

Keynote: the Spanish Cardiovascular Strategy

  • Mónica García Gómez, Minister for Health, Spain
  • Pedro Gullón Tosio, Director General of Public Health and Health Equity, Ministry of Health, Spain

Keynote: Italy’s vision for managing chronic disease

  • Dr Alice Borghini, Director of Digital Health and Telemedicine Unit, National Agency for Regional Healthcare Services, Italy (Agenzia Nazionale per i Servizi Sanitari Regionali, AGENAS)

How can the European Union transform cardiovascular health?

  • Demetris Papadakis, Member of the European Parliament representing Cyprus
  • Professor Béla Merkely, Rector, Semmelweis University, Hungary
  • James Kennedy, Public Affairs Director, European Society of Cardiology, Belgium

The potential of national cardiovascular health plans: insights from Romania

  • Professor Dragos Vinereanu, President, Cardiology Committee, Romanian Ministry of Health; President, Romanian Heart Foundation

Embedding quality heart failure care in policy

  • Dr Lisa Anderson, Chair, British Society for Heart Failure, UK

Insights from the PORTHOS study: evidencing the burden of heart failure

  • Dr Brenda Moura, Cardiologist, Hospital Militar Rei Dom Pedro V; Coordinator for National Heart Failure Societies and Working Groups, European Society of Cardiology, based in Portugal

 

Part 2: Building the case for heart failure

Italy’s new vision for implementing chronic heart failure management

  • Professor Salvatore Di Somma, Professor of Medicine, University La Sapienza Rome; Scientific Director, Italian Association of Patients with Heart Failure (Associazione Italiana Scompensati Cardiaci, AISC), Italy

Driving change through a Heart Failure Policy Framework

  • Marc Bains, Co-Founder, HeartLife; Co-lead, Canadian Heart Function Alliance

Raising awareness of heart failure through public campaigns: BEAT-HF

  • Nick Hartshorne-Evans, CEO & Founder, Pumping Marvellous Foundation, UK
  • Dr Rajiv Sankaranarayanan, Consultant Cardiologist and Heart Failure Lead, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Securing equitable access to natriuretic peptide testing

  • Professor Petar Seferović, Professor of Internal Medicine, Belgrade University, Serbia
  • Aistė Štaraitė, President, Lithuanian Heart Failure Association
  • Professor Kostas Athanasakis, Assistant Professor of Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment, University of West Attica, Greece

 

Discussion: led by Ed Harding, Network Director, HFPN

Featuring:

  • Hans Martens, President, European Association for Value-Based Health Care, based in Denmark
  • Professor Kostas Athanasakis, Assistant Professor of Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment, University of West Attica, Greece

Q&A: led by Ed Harding, Network Director, Heart Failure Policy Network


 

Learning from change–makers: real–world successes in heart failure

 

Thursday 11 April 15.00–17.00 CEST (09.00–11.00 EDT)

The second session explored cutting-edge developments in heart failure clinical science, the real-world implementation of novel heart failure care models, and their implications for governments and for people living with heart failure.

Attendees heard from experts at the forefront of heart failure prevention, care and scientific research, and learn about the latest innovations in detecting and managing heart failure.

The session also highlighted transformative work by leading heart failure advocates and their real-world impact on patient outcomes and care delivery. Attendees received updates on major heart failure policy initiatives, including the work of Global Heart Hub’s Heart Failure Patient Council, and national strategies such as the Dutch Deltaplan, which has been designed to enhance awareness and collaboration. Our experts explored innovative care models accelerating heart failure diagnosis in community settings, featuring AI-powered care pathway transformations and specialised screening hubs in unique venues, such as football clubs.

Additionally, the session featured a focused conversation on the vital role of specialist nursing in sustainable heart failure care, and explored the steps needed to strengthen the role.

For full details about this year’s speakers, please see the speaker biographies.

 

Part 1: New horizons in heart failure diagnosis and care

Welcome from the HFPN

  • Ed Harding, Network Director, Heart Failure Policy Network

Keynote: New horizons in heart failure care

  • Professor Giuseppe Rosano, Professor of Cardiology, St George’s Hospitals NHS Trust University of London, UK; Scientific Director, Clinical and Translational Centre, IRCCS San Raffaele, Italy
  • Professor John Teerlink, Director, Heart Failure and Echocardiography Laboratory, San Francisco VA Medical Center; Immediate Past President, Heart Failure Society of America

What could be gained through a heart failure research agenda?

  • Professor Ken McDonald, Clinical Lead, National Heart Programme, Ireland; Professor of Cardiology, University College Dublin, Ireland

Q&A: led by Ed Harding, Network Director, Heart Failure Policy Network

 

Part 2: Showcase of heart failure initiatives on the ground

How to encourage political leadership in heart failure: advocacy spotlight

  • Dr Jozine ter Maaten, Cardiologist, University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands
  • Dr Marilyn Prasun, Chair, Heart Failure Patient Council, Global Heart Hub, based in US; Carle BroMenn Medical Center Endowed Professor, Mennonite College of Nursing, Illinois State University; Past President, American Association of Heart Failure Nurses, US

How can we accelerate diagnosis in the community?

  • Dr Rajiv Sankaranarayanan, Consultant Cardiologist and Heart Failure Lead, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK
  • Nick Hartshorne-Evans, CEO, Pumping Marvellous, UK
  • Leeanne Macklin, National Heart Disease Improvement Coordinator, Scottish Government; Senior Cardiology Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Forth Valley Royal Hospital, UK

Specialist nursing as a key component of sustainable heart failure care

  • Professor Izabella Uchmanowicz, President, Association of Cardiovascular Nursing & Allied Professions, based in Poland
  • Dr Marilyn Prasun, Past President, American Association of Heart Failure Nurses; Chair, Heart Failure Patient Council, Global Heart Hub, based in US; Carle BroMenn Medical Center Endowed Professor, Mennonite College of Nursing, Illinois State University, US
  • Rodolfo Pike, Nurse Practitioner, Heart Function Clinic, Eastern Health, Canada

 

Q&A: led by Ed Harding, Network Director, Heart Failure Policy Network

Project advisory group

Mr Marc Bains
Co-founder, HeartLife Foundation & Co-Lead, Canadian Heart Function Alliance
Dr Antoni Bayes Genis
Head of the Cardiology Department, University Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol
Professor Salvatore Di Somma
Professor of Medicine, University La Sapienza Rome, & Director of Scientific Board, Associazione Italiana Scompensati Cardiaci - AISC
Dr Luis Filipe Pereira
President, Associação de Apoio aos Doentes com Insuficiência Cardíaca (AADIC)
Professor Damien Gruson
Head of Department of Laboratory Medicine and Head of Clinical Biochemistry, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc
Ms Penilla Gunther
Founder, FOKUS Patient
Mr Nick Hartshorne-Evans
CEO, Pumping Marvellous Foundation
Professor Ekaterini Lambrinou
Dean of the School of Health Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology
Mr Rodolfo Pike
Executive Committee member, Canadian Heart Failure Society
Ms Aistė Štaraitė
President, Lithuanian Heart Failure Association

Sponsors

The HFPN Secretariat would like to thank the following sponsors for supporting the Summit:

  • AstraZeneca
  • Roche Diagnostics

 

The 2024 Heart Failure Policy Summit is sponsored by AstraZeneca and Roche Diagnostics. Full editorial control of agenda development, all Summit materials and sessions (including speaker management) lies with the HFPN Secretariat, guided by the Steering Committee and Summit Project Advisory Group. Sponsors have provided input to the Summit’s agenda, which was developed by the HFPN Secretariat.

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The Heart Failure Policy Network is an independent, multidisciplinary platform made possible with financial support from AstraZeneca and Roche Diagnostics. The content produced by the Network is not biased toward any specific treatment or therapy. All outputs are guided and endorsed by the Network’s members. All members provide their time for free. The Network is hosted by The Health Policy Partnership .