The World Heart Federation (WHF) is bringing together a Global Coalition of international, regional and national stakeholders in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) to drive the urgent action needed to combat heart disease and stroke, in preparation for the third UN High-level Meeting on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in 2018. This Global Coalition for Circulatory Health will be launched as leaders gather in Montevideo, Uruguay, October 18-20 2017, for the WHO Global Conference on Noncommunicable Diseases.
Professor David Wood, Cardiologist and President of the World Heart Federation, explains:
“CVD, including heart disease and stroke, is the leading cause of mortality worldwide with more than 75% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.1 Yet this huge burden is not being addressed with the priority required to achieve the target 25% reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2025 (25by25).2 In addition, the implementation of the WHO Global Action Plan3 for the Prevention and Control of NCDs, along with national action plans on NCDs, has been slow.”
Given this situation, WHF convened the 1st Global Summit on Circulatory Health in June 2016. The result was the Mexico Declaration, adopted by 29 global, regional and national civil society organizations. The signatories pledged to advocate for policies for cardiovascular health, develop a common implementation strategy based on evidence and develop a common language for policy makers.
Subsequently, in July 2017, WHF held the 2nd Global Summit in Singapore with the aim of inspiring a greater sense of urgency to address CVD. Here, the need to coordinate international advocacy efforts became self-evident and a decision was made to form a global coalition of international, regional and national stakeholders to work together for circulatory health. This Global Coalition for Circulatory Health is open to any professional global, regional, and national civil society organization with a role in circulatory health.
The pledged Coalition members include:
- European Heart Network
- European Primary Care Cardiovascular Society
- Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth (HRIDAY)
- Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, Heart Friends Around the World
- InterAmerican Heart Foundation
- International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations
- International Atherosclerosis Society
- International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation
- International Council of Nurses
- International Diabetes Federation
- International Primary Care Cardiovascular Society
- International Society of Behavioral Medicine (ISBM)
- International Society of Nephrology
- Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association
- South African Heart Association
- World Federation of Public Health Associations
- World Hypertension League
- World Organization of Family Doctors
- World Stroke Organization
- World Heart Federation
The Global Coalition will leverage the expertise and reach of its international partners to advocate for increased prevention, control and treatment of all circulatory diseases.
Objectives of the Global Coalition for Circulatory Health
- Achieve the global target of a 25% reduction by 2025 in premature mortality from heart disease and stroke, as an essential component to the 25by25 NCD target and a key milestone to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 of a one-third reduction in premature NCD deaths by 2030
- Unite the diverse voices of the circulatory health community to become more powerful advocates to policy makers and politicians
- Align all organizations to support the WHO Global Hearts Initiative to improve the prevention, control and treatment of heart disease and stroke through primary health care
- Promote common international messaging by partnering organizations and leveraging their extensive networks to cascade messages to regional and national levels
- Strengthen the voice of people living with heart disease and stroke by including patients, their families and communities in decision-making processes and in national, regional and global advocacy
- Convene an annual Global Summit on Circulatory Health for professional leaders from the public and private sectors to drive the international, regional and national agendas for circulatory health
1 WHO. Cardiovascular disease. 2017. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs317/en/.
2 UN. Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases. 2011. http://www.un.org/en/ga/ncdmeeting2011/.
3 WHO. Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2020. 2011. http://www.who.int/nmh/events/ncd_action_plan/en/.
