27 February – The EU Structural Heart Disease (SHD) Coalition proudly participated in the Polish Presidency Event on Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) held on 25 February in Warsaw. The event, titled “Unmet Needs in Cardiovascular Health Across Europe – Current Status, Challenges and Solutions”, brought together key decisionmakers, stakeholders and experts to address Europe’s most pressing cardiovascular challenges. The SHD Coalition, represented by Dr. Alberto Colangelo, Fondazione Longevitas and member of the EU SHD Coalition, emphasised the importance of early SHD detection and gender-specific cardiovascular care via inclusive clinical studies.
More specifically, during the event, the speakers discussed the significance of prevention in reducing the burden of CVDs through lifestyle interventions, regular screening, and early risk detection. They also highlighted the existence of geographic and gender disparities in the prevalence and management of CVDs across the EU and emphasised the need for intervention to address these disparities, particularly between men and women.
High-quality, accessible, standardized, and digitalized data is essential for intervention research, and the European Health Data Space (EHDS) offers a key opportunity to improve data collection and utilization in healthcare. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform clinical practice by supporting physicians in informed decision-making. However, its use must be ethical, responsible, and safeguarded by strong patient privacy protections.
Effective CVD management requires a multidisciplinary approach, enabling collaboration across different sectors and disciplines to deliver integrated care, and, lastly, community and patient engagement remain critical to foster successful health promotion initiatives.
During the discussion, Dr. Colangelo, highlighted the importance of early detection of SHDs, raising awareness of gender-specific cardiovascular health needs and gender representation in clinical studies, and the importance of standardisation of health data collection at the European level for coordinating innovation in cardiology.
This event reinforced our collective efforts in driving the agenda on SHDs for a unified EU Cardiovascular Health Plan (CVH). The Coalition stands ready to support the development of the upcoming EU CVH Plan, ensuring prioritisation of SHD early detection and care while addressing gender, geographic and age inequalities.
