Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of death and disability in Europe, costing the EU an estimated €282 billion annually. CVDs are interconnected with other – often preventable – major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, obesity, lipid conditions, and chronic respiratory disease, sharing common risk factors and social, environmental, and commercial determinants.
The EU Cardiovascular Health Plan (ECHP) offers a pivotal opportunity to deliver systemic, cross-sectoral solutions that not only address CVD but also advance broader public health, equity, and economic goals.
The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), representing 45 member associations from across the WHO European Region, urges policymakers to seize this opportunity and implement the following actions as part of the ECHP.
- Prevention
- Accelerate implementation of outstanding Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) measures relevant to cardiovascular health, including legislative action in the area of tobacco control and marketing of unhealthy products.
- Ensure coherence between public health objectives, EU subsidy and fiscal frameworks. Phase out EU subsidies and tax breaks for harmful products and polluting energy sources (alcohol, tobacco, ultra-processed foods, fossil fuels, biomass energy). Redirect resources to health-promoting measures such as healthy food subsidies, active mobility, and clean air.
- Reinforce EU and national governance mechanisms to embed (cardiovascular) health into environmental, climate, and urban policy, including through the establishment of an EU Expert Group on Climate and Health to drive integration of cardiovascular prevention into all relevant legislative and planning frameworks.
- Early Detection & Screening
- Develop EU guidelines on life-course screening with clear, evidence-based criteria for timing, target populations, and follow-up.
- Launch an EU-supported initiative to implement evidence-based, multi-condition, standardised screening protocols for CVD risk factors, and directly related disease and comorbidities (e.g. hypertension, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, dementia, kidney disease).
- Support the integration of CVH screening into other NCD screening and specialist care pathways beyond direct comorbidities, leveraging EU funding programmes to pilot and scale integrated screening models in Member States, and facilitating best-practice exchange, with health authorities sharing proven models for integrated screening and patient referral.
- Management, Care, & Rehabilitation
- Recommend and support the development of national cardiovascular care protocols in all Member States, embedding multi-disease, multidisciplinary team models, with EU guidance, best-practice exchange, and targeted funding to ensure consistent, patient-centred care across Europe.
- Establish a European network of specialised cardiovascular centres to harmonise treatment standards, reduce disparities, and facilitate the integration of cutting-edge research into day-to-day care.
- Develop EU guidance for comprehensive cardiovascular rehabilitation, integrating digital tools, community-based models, and psychosocial support to improve reach, effectiveness, and equity.
- Cross-Cutting Enablers
- Build robust, interoperable cardiovascular data systems aligned with the European Health Data Space, ensuring high-quality, standardised, and regularly updated datasets across Member States, supported by EU4Health and Horizon Europe funding.
- Support an EU-wide cardiovascular health literacy campaign tailored to diverse linguistic, cultural, and literacy contexts, integrating messaging across the prevention spectrum and linking to related health areas such as cancer, mental health, and respiratory health.
- Embed mental health as a core pillar of cardiovascular prevention and care, with referral pathways between cardiovascular and mental health services and expanded access to community-based and digital mental health support.
- Require structured patient involvement in the design, implementation, and evaluation of cardiovascular policies and services, including advisory boards, co-design processes, and mandatory participation in EU-funded initiatives.
- Make equity a central principle in EU cardiovascular health action by mandating disaggregated data collection, developing EU-level progress indicators, and requiring equity impact assessments for all major cardiovascular policy and funding decisions, with targeted interventions for high-risk groups.