The advocacy efforts of the World Heart Federation, the NCD Alliance, and heart health advocates from around the world have already taken steps to remedy the existing neglect of CVD in global policy, focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals which will replace the MDGs at the end of 2015. Encouragingly, the United Nations Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has already referenced NCDs explicitly in its proposed goals. At this point, negotiations on the SDGs are in the hands of the governments of all nations. All important decisions will be determined over the next six months. Now is the time for heart health advocates from all parts of the CVD community to demand that their governments take action to ensure that cardiovascular disease and noncommunicable diseases become a priority.
This CVD and Development Toolkit provides heart associations and cardiology societies with the tools necessary to support national advocacy efforts. This resource can be used for everything: from helping develop your national CVD strategy, to reaching out to the media, to scheduling a meeting with the Minister of Finance.
