Latest News

GENEVA (16 October 2020) – The World Heart Federation (WHF) has developed a new policy brief on front-of-pack labelling (FOPL) aimed at improving global standards on nutrition and creating healthy food environments. Poor diet is responsible for more deaths worldwide than any other risk factor, and is a leading cause of obesity, type 2 diabetes, […]

Geneva/Rio de Janeiro (13 October 2020) – The impact of COVID-19 on people with underlying health conditions, particularly those affecting the heart, poses new public health challenges. In particular, little is known about how COVID-19 is impacting the millions of people worldwide with neglected diseases. This socioeconomically vulnerable population already faced significant challenges to accessing […]

The COVID-19 pandemic is creating a perfect storm for heart health. Three main factors are contributing to this phenomenon. First, people with COVID-19 and heart disease are among those with the highest risk of death and of developing severe conditions. Second, after the virus attacks, the heart might be adversely affected even in people without […]

Geneva, 29 September 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic is creating a perfect storm for the heart, the World Heart Federation (WHF) warns on World Heart Day. Three main factors are contributing to this phenomenon. First, people with COVID-19 and heart disease are among those with the highest risk of death and of developing severe conditions. […]

GENEVA—Every year, 1.9 million people die from tobacco-induced heart disease, according to a new brief released today by the World Health Organization, World Heart Federation and the University of Newcastle, Australia ahead of World Heart Day, marked on 29 September. This equates to one in five of all deaths from heart disease, warn the report’s […]

Science and medicine have progressed in leaps and bounds, often aided by advances in technology, yet thousands of rare diseases continue to impact the lives of millions of people. A disease is “rare” until it hits home and then it becomes unfortunately all too familiar for patients and their families. One type of rare disease, […]

Diabetes and heart failure can be a double-edged sword: people with Type 2 diabetes, characterized by high blood sugar, can have as much as a four-fold risk of developing heart failure than someone without diabetes. And heart failure arising from inefficient pumping of oxygenated blood, exacerbates diabetes risk. Researchers have identified a new class of […]

With World Heart Day just a week away, we wanted to remind you about some of the ways you can engage and mobilise your communities. You will find all these and more on our Get Involved page. Develop your own dynamic Use Heart content – to show the world what we can all do to […]

In this video, Prof Karen Sliwa reflects on her journey at the helm of the World Heart Federation and tells us about her remarkable career in Africa. She opens up about her 18 years in a hospital in Soweto, a township in Johannesburg, and about her subsequent move to Cape Town, where she became the […]

Non-communicable diseases & injuries (NCDIs) cause more death and disability at every age among the world’s poorest billion than in wealthy countries, according to the newly published Lancet Commission on NCDs and injuries among the poorest billion, which features WHF Emerging Leaders Ana Mocumbi and Jaime Miranda among its authors. The Commission argues that the current […]

The Perio & Cardio educational campaign offers clear messages on the links between periodontal and cardiovascular diseases and the steps dentists, doctors, and patients need to take in prevention and treatment The initiative includes the site perioandcardio.efp.org and educational material addressed at dentists, cardiologists, medical professionals, and the public. It builds on the scientific input […]