WHAT’S NEW IN THE COALITION
Welcome Ms. Arunima Himawan and Prof. Dr. Stephan von Bardeleben to the Steering Committee!
After the successful completion of the renewal process of the SHD Coalition Steering Committee in March, Prof. Dr. Stephan von Bardeleben and Ms. Arunima Himawan joined the Steering Committee, which now counts ten members in total! This configuration would have the advantage of strengthening the Steering Committee with two new members with complementary profiles.
Ms. Arunima Himawan
Prof. Dr. Stephan von Bardeleben
GE HealthCare officially joins the SHD Coalition as a sponsor The new year started with GE HealthCare joining the SHD Coalition as silver sponsor. GE HealthCare is a global medical technology company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, which specialises in medical technology, intelligent devices, and care solutions. GE HealthCare is working towards modernizing and simplifying every step of the patient journey and is committed to create a world where healthcare has no limits.
“ The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has doubled since 1990, and looking ahead, cases of cardiovascular disease are likely to increase substantially due to population growth and aging. In that context, GE HealthCare is proud to support the mission of the SHD in raising awareness about the burden of structural heart disease and prioritising its detection and treatment. Nowadays, cardiology procedures are shifting rapidly requiring a multi-disciplinary approach to optimize workflows, deliver better outcomes, and offer patients the best treatment options. GE HealthCare is working towards modernizing and simplifying every step of the patient journey and is committed to create a world where healthcare has no limits.
—SOFIA WREDER, GE HEALTHCARE
The SHD Coalition is growing!
During the first quarter of 2023, our Coalition welcomed one new political supporter and four new members:
MEP István Ujhelyi (S&D, Hungary)
Vice-Chair of the TRAN Committee as well as a substitute member of the ENVI Committee and the newly created SANT subcommittee.
Dr. Andrés Iñiguez
President of the Spanish Heart Foundation, former President of the Spanish Society of Cardiology between 2015 and 2017 and head of the Cardiology Service of the University Hospital Complex of Vigo.
Dr. Barreiro-Pérez
Coordinator of the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Unit of the Cardiology Department at the University Hospital Alvaro Cunqueiro in Spain.
Prof. Ariel Cohen
Head of the Cardiology Service of the Hospital Saint-Antoine, Paris and Ex-President of the French Society of Cardiology. He is also Hospital practitioner and a University Professor at the Saint-Antoine Faculty of Medicine. SFC - Société Française de Cardiologie
Dr. Mohammad Sherif
Director of the invasive Cardiology and Angiology and Director of the program of structural heart diseases within the Charite University Hospital Berlin (Campus Virchow) in Germany.
News around Policy
EUROPEAN UNION
The Conference of Presidents in the European Parliament agrees to establish a new Sub-committee on Health
During the EP Plenary meeting on 14 February, the Parliamentarians agreed to establish a new Sub-committee on Health, which will carry out work alongside its parent ENVI Committee. Even though the Subcommittee on Public Health was expected to start work sometime in September 2023 – notably after the 6-month extension of the mandate of the COVI Committee is set to expire – it started operating in March. The vote on the health sub-committee validates the Union’s will to take a more active role in health, a domain that is restricted to national competencies and strengthens the European Health
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Written question on the 2023 EU4Health Work Programme
On 22 February Mr. Benifei (S&D – Italy) tabled a written Question on the 2023 EU4Health Work Programme, which was co-signed by MEPs Maria da Graça Carvalho (EPP- Portugal), Hilde Vautmans (Renew – Belgium), Sara Cerdas (S&D – Portugal), Juozas Olekas (S&D – Lithuania) and Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP – Finland). Text of the question: 1. Does the Commission recognise the need to prioritise and dedicate resources to the prevention, detection and screening of CVDs in all Member States, where action at EU level provides significant added value? If so, why does the 2023 EU4Health Work Programme fail to include any actions on Cardiovascular Diseases? 2. Does the Commission intend to devote more resources to the 2024 EU4Health Programme, including measures on Cardiovascular and Structural Heart Diseases in the next EU4Health Work Programme? When EU4Health Work programme 2022 included budget for the EU Joint Action on CVD and Diabetes, and for stakeholders’ calls, the 2023 work programme does not include any budget for action on CVD or SHD. The Commission’s answer to the MEPs is awaited in April.
FRANCE
French Bill On “Building A Society For Aging Well”
The bill on measures to build a society for aging well in France was tabled in December 2022 by the Presidential Majority political group in the National Assembly. The text is co-authored by the group presidents, as well as several MPs (16 co-authors in all). It is intended to be one of the stages, and one of the founding texts, of a reform, a promise made by Emmanuel Macron during his first term. Widely expected by the actors of the sector, this bill focuses on the prevention of loss of autonomy, the fight against abuse and the accommodation of the elderly, with a focus on homecare professionals. It includes 14 articles divided into three titles. The first article of the bill intents to create a National Conference on Autonomy, which will pilot prevention policies and details its missions. The Conference will define priority orientations for the actions implemented by the conferences of funders of the prevention of loss of autonomy and inclusive housing, within the framework of a multi-year plan. This bill, and particularly its first article, represents an opportunity to include the prevention of age-related diseases, including structural heart disease, as one of the factors of good aging, to build a strong society for aging well.
ITALY
Presentation of the parliamentary intergroup for cardio, cerebrovascular and vascular diseases and of the paper Meridiano Cardio 2023
On the 22nd of February a Press Conference was held in the Senate to present the Parliamentary Intergroup for Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular, and Vascular Diseases and the paper “Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular, and Vascular Diseases – A Public Health Priority. The Importance and Urgency of Having a National Plan,” drafted by the Meridiano Cardio Working Group, a platform of The European House Ambrosetti on cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and vascular diseases, supported in the 2022-2023 process by Amgen, Edwards Lifesciences, BMS-Pfizer Alliance, and W.L. Gore & Associates, on the initiative of Senator Elena Murelli – Member of the Commission for Social Affairs, Health, Public and Private Employment and Social Security and promoter of the Parliamentary Intergroup on cardio, Cerebro and vascular diseases. The Conference aimed to bring the topic of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) back to the center of political debate and establish a parliamentary intergroup to address these issues.
SPAIN
Spain to Initiate Plan for Infrastructure and Equipment in Primary Care with €406.7 Million Budget Allocation United Kingdom
The Ministry of Health in Spain has announced that it will be initiating actions to implement the Plan for Infrastructure and equipment in Primary Care, with an allocation of €406.7 million from the General State Budget of 2023. The funds will be distributed through capital transfers to autonomous communities and cities for Primary Care infrastructures and equipment. This will be added to the €172.4 million that the Ministry of Health distributed in 2022 for the Strategic Framework for Primary and Community Care, which is again budgeted for 2023. The goal of the plan is to improve the facilities and infrastructures of Primary Care centers and enhance the Common Basic Portfolio of Primary Care.
UNITED KINGDOM
Steve Barclay announces the development of the ‘Major Conditions Strategy’
Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced on 24th January 2023 that the government is developing a ‘Major Condition Strategy’ to respond to the 5.3 million people in the UK that live with cardiovascular diseases and another 8.6 million with chronic respiratory diseases. The strategy aims to create a coherent policy agenda focusing on integrated and wholeperson care measures, building on the targets that had already been set out through the NHS Long Term plan. Steve Barclay debated that this approach would differ from the traditional approaches that focus on specific diseases or organs in a siloed approach and will harness the potential of whole person care to increase the capacity of the NHS in caring for patients with complex and long-term conditions. At the core of the strategy rests preserving good health and early detection and treatment of diseases, so that conditions that were once a death sentence can become managed and treated over the long term. Barclay noted that innovation and technology will play a fundamental role in the major conditions strategy, as they will be increasingly integrated and used to detect diseases at an early stage, even before symptoms emerge.
Upcoming Events
EuroPCR 16-19 May 2023 | Paris, France and Online
The upcoming edition of the World-Leading Course in interventional cardiovascular medicine is fast approaching, and this official annual meeting of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) is addressed to interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, interventional radiologists, imaging physicians, nurses or allied professionals