MEET THE INCOMING WORLD HEART FEDERATION PRESIDENT, PROFESSOR PEKKA PUSKA AND VICE PRESIDENT, DR LYN ROBERTS

Professor Pekka Puska, Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Finland, and Dr Lyn Roberts, CEO of the National Heart Foundation of Australia will become President and Vice President respectively of the World Heart Federation from January 2009.

Professor Pekka Puska: bringing a wealth of previous experience

Professor Puska, a former member of the Finnish parliament who is an MD and has a  M Pol Sc as well as a PhD in epidemiology, will succeed Professor Shahryar Sheikh when he stands down as President of the World Heart Federation at the end of his term of office.
Professor Puska brings considerable experience of working in public health policy. He helped develop Finland’s health system, widely recognised as a role model in terms of healthcare resource allocation and management. He has focused on the prevention of cardiovascular disease for over 25 years, including as Director for Non-communicable Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the World Health Organization from 2001–2003. In 2006 he stood as a candidate to become Director-General of the WHO.
Professor Puska, a former President of the Finnish Heart Association, was also Director and Principal Investigator of the North Karelia Project, an internationally recognised model for successful population-based prevention of cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases. He achieved an 80% decline in annual heart disease mortality among the working age population in this region. 

Incoming President sets his objectives

“I am hugely honoured to accept the position of President of the World Heart Federation,” commented Dr Puska.  “My background is in the prevention of cardiovascular disease with much of my work in the field of public health.  So I believe I will be a good fit with the World Heart Federation which is now a major player in global public heart health, in particular for low- and middle-income countries.

 “The focus for my term will be to continue upgrading heart health on the global health agenda, especially as CVD is an increasing burden with human and economic costs in most of the world.  This is coupled with the disproportionate lack of attention, resources and interest given to this disease versus other more high-profile health issues.  I also plan to continue the great work the World Heart Federation has been doing in advocacy, establishing major practical projects to combat the disease, plus in developing its partnerships and growing leadership role in global heart health.”

Vice President: Dr Lyn Roberts

Dr Lyn Roberts has been CEO of the National Heart Foundation of Australia since 2001.  She has developed national cardiovascular health programmes in Australia, been extensively involved with cancer prevention programmes and is regarded as an expert on tobacco control.  Dr Roberts is also Chair of the Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance and is a member of a number of expert advisory committees for government and non-governmental sectors including the Preventative Health Taskforce.