The World Heart Federation supports the development of policies that have a positive impact on people’s heart health. Our roadmaps, policy briefs and position papers can be adapted to different contexts and are regularly updated based on the latest available evidence.
Our Roadmaps are designed and developed by international teams of experts who together identify challenges and offer solutions on specific topics impacting cardiovascular mortality. They can serve as models for regions and countries to develop their own Roadmaps and create or update their national non-communicable disease action plans. They offer a framework to bring together stakeholders with the objective of determining, prioritizing and implementing solutions to reduce premature CVD deaths in any context.
Our policy briefs present concise summaries of information that can help readers understand and make informed decisions about policies related to cardiovascular disease, associated risk factors and determinants of health. They provide objective summaries of relevant research, outline existing global policies, suggest possible approaches and argue for courses of action that governments should take when creating or considering policies to foster healthy environments in their country or region.
Our position papers reflect our policy positions on a wide range of CVD-related issues. They are supported by scientific studies published in recognized journals and have a rigorous review and approval process. These papers generally include a review of data available on a specific subject, an evaluation on its relationship to overall cardiovascular disease science, and WHF recommendations on the basis of that evaluation within the context of global public health policy.
Key take-aways The European Society of Cardiology, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation have published the first joint statement calling for urgent action to address environmental stressors as major contributors to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Environmental risk factors that impact cardiovascular health include air pollution, traffic, airplane and industrial noise, artificial light exposure, chemical pollution, plastic and the various effects […]
On 16 December, the European Commission published the EU Safe Hearts Plan, the first comprehensive, EU-wide strategy dedicated to cardiovascular health. The Plan marks a major milestone in the EU’s response to cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of death across the Union, responsible for 1.7 million deaths every year. Momentum around the Safe Hearts Plan has been building in […]
Today’s passage of the Fourth United Nations Political Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being marks a watershed moment for international collaboration to tackle the world’s number one killer, cardiovascular disease (CVD). “WHF is buoyed by the encouraging support of major groups and so many Member States in addressing cardiovascular […]
WHF welcomes the first EU Cardiovascular Health Plan Every day in Europe, cardiovascular disease kills 5,000 people, yet it rarely makes the headlines. As Europe’s, and the world’s, leading cause of death, it demands both urgent attention and action. With the upcoming EU Cardiovascular Health Plan, the EU takes a major step to prioritise heart […]