On 25 February 2026, Member of the European Parliament Tomislav Sokol (EPP, Croatia), with the support of the EU Structural Heart Disease Coalition, hosted the event “Delivering Impact: EU Safe Hearts Plan on Strengthening Care Through a Standardised Health Check Protocol” at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The event brought together European policymakers, clinicians, patient advocates, and health experts to discuss the urgent need to strengthen early detection and care pathways for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), with a particular focus on Structural Heart Disease (SHD). Speakers stressed that significant gender, socio-economic, and geographic inequalities continue to shape cardiovascular outcomes across the European Union. Women and rural populations, in particular, remain more likely to face misdiagnosis, delayed referrals, and poorer follow-up care.
A central message of the discussion was that SHD frequently progresses silently, making systematic early detection essential. Drawing on experiences from Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and San Marino, speakers showed that screening in primary care and community settings is both feasible and cost-effective and can lead to better patient outcomes. Several contributors underlined that successful screening models can be implemented across diverse health systems, regardless of the degree of centralisation.
The event also highlighted the growing importance of digital innovation, including AI-supported auscultation, in expanding screening capacity and supporting overstretched healthcare workforces across Member States. Panellists emphasised that artificial intelligence can improve early detection, strengthen referral accuracy, and reduce the administrative burden on clinicians, thereby enabling more time for patient care.
At the same time, speakers warned that early detection alone is not enough. It must be matched by strong secondary prevention, structured follow-up, and rehabilitation, which remain inconsistent across the EU. Fragmented referral pathways, workforce shortages, and uneven access to cardiology services were identified as major barriers to effective care. In response, panellists broadly supported the development of a standardised EU health check protocol as a practical tool.
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