EUROPEANS LAUNCH REGIONAL HEART HEALTH CHARTER

The European Heart Network and the European Society of Cardiology joined the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe and the European Commission in launching the European Heart Health Charter.

The launch took place on 12 June 2007 at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. European Commissioner for Health Markos Kyprianou attended, as did Dr Nata Menabde, Deputy Regional Director of the WHO’s European Region.

The charter is a Europe-wide policy document focusing on the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Governments and nongovernmental organizations that sign it commit to reduce Europe’s burden of cardiovascular disease. Signatories also agree to strive for equity in treatment in their home countries and across Europe.

Tools to stop Europe’s biggest killer

Among the tools that it provides are recommended policies and public information campaigns to reduce obesity rates and smoking, to promote healthy food choices and physical activity and to implement best practices in cardiovascular care.

Cardiovascular disease is Europe’s biggest killer, accounting for almost half of all deaths, according to the World Health Organization. It costs the European Union (EU) €169 billion per year.

“The European Heart Health Charter is an exciting development in the global fight against cardiovascular disease,” said World Heart Federation Chief Executive Officer Janet Voûte. “It will give Europe’s politicians, policy-makers and public health professionals a guide on which to base their collective efforts to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease. Its emphasis on prevention, on the importance of healthy environments and on the special needs of youths and women is particularly enlightened.”

“A new dynamic”

“The European Heart Health Charter will bring a new dynamic to the way in which the EU – and indeed European – health policy is developed and implemented,” said European Heart Network Director Susanne Løgstrup. “I am confident that with the support of the European Commission, WHO European Region and with the commitment and skill provided by the signatories, representing leading European health organizations and professional societies, in 10 years time Europe will be a healthier place with a healthier population. And that is good for everybody.”

European Society of Cardiology Past President Lars Rydén believes that the charter’s emphasis on prevention will help reduce the burden of CVD across Europe.

“Until recently the focus of attention has been on treatment,” he said. “This means extending the lives of people already affected and society has ended up accumulating a mountain of people who are ill. What we have to concentrate on now is prevention, which is the goal of the charter. We cannot continue to create a society that makes people ill, and then invest a lot of money in curing them.”

A web site – www.heartcharter.eu – contains information about the charter in 18 languages.