Sittings · Document
Parliament's resolution calls for an EU cardiovascular diseases strategy to complement the Commission's Safe Hearts Plan, covering prevention, early detection, treatment, rehabilitation, inequalities, digital health, research and governance.¶¶¶ It asks Member States to adopt or update national cardiovascular health plans aligned with the Safe Hearts Plan, and the Commission to support them with guidance, funding and a Safe Hearts Plan implementation roadmap.¶¶¶ It calls for action on tobacco, alcohol, drugs, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, socio-economic and environmental determinants, and for a Health in All Policies approach.¶¶¶ It demands a gender-responsive approach to cardiovascular health, including gender-specific diagnostic protocols, inclusion of women in research and clinical trials, and monitoring of female-specific risk factors.¶¶¶ It calls for stronger EU research funding, an EU cardiovascular research and innovation roadmap, and an EU mission on CVD prevention and inequalities.¶¶¶ It asks the Commission to present an evaluation report on the EU cardiovascular health plan no later than four years after its adoption.¶
Key points
- Calls for a Health in All Policies approach at EU and national level, health aspects in impact assessments, and equitable access to cardiovascular prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.¶
- Asks the Commission to adopt a horizontal EU health prevention plan covering all non-communicable disease risk factors, with prevention across the life course including congenital heart disease and pregnancy-related risk monitoring.¶
- Calls on the Council to adopt recommendations on comprehensive, evidence-based health education in schools, including cardiovascular health literacy, healthy lifestyles and non-communicable disease prevention.¶
- Calls for regulatory measures to reduce access to, affordability, consumption and appeal of tobacco and nicotine products, including bans on flavours, limits on nicotine content and excise taxation.¶
- Calls for all non-medicinal nicotine products to be included in the Tobacco Products Directive, for regulation of tobacco advertising including social media, and for pre-market health impact assessments for new tobacco and nicotine products.¶¶¶
- Calls on Member States to enforce smoke-free legislation in all indoor public places and workplaces and to extend it to outdoor areas frequented by children.¶
- Calls for action on harmful alcohol consumption, including a review of the Directive on excise duties on alcohol, better consumer information on labels, and regulation of alcohol advertising reaching minors.¶¶¶
- Calls for EU measures on food environments, including front-of-pack nutrition labelling, regulation of marketing of unhealthy foods to children, and a harmonised definition of 'ultra-processed foods'.¶¶¶
- Calls for integrated urban and transport interventions, promotion of physical activity across the life course, and engagement of the sports sector in healthy behaviours.¶¶¶
- Welcomes the announced Council recommendation on health checks for cardiovascular diseases and calls for risk-stratified, evidence-based guidance with referral pathways and financial support for Member States.¶¶
- Calls for timely and affordable access to high-quality cardiovascular care, national care protocols, a European network of cardiovascular centres of excellence, and wider CPR and AED deployment.¶¶¶
- Calls for an EU cardiovascular health inequalities dashboard, an EU mission on CVD prevention and inequalities, and integration of CVD surveillance into national health information systems.¶¶¶
Who is affected
- Member States, which are asked to adopt or update national cardiovascular health plans and implement Council recommendations.¶¶
- The Commission, which is asked to support Member States, develop guidelines and a Safe Hearts Plan implementation roadmap, and report on implementation.¶¶¶
- People living with cardiovascular diseases, who should have timely and affordable access to care, rehabilitation and medicines.¶¶
- Women, who face underdiagnosis and are to benefit from gender-responsive prevention, diagnosis and treatment.¶¶
- The tobacco, alcohol, food and nicotine product industries, which face calls for stricter regulation of products, marketing and advertising.¶¶¶
Figures and deadlines
- approximately 1,7 million deaths each year from cardiovascular diseases in the EU¶
- 62 million people in the EU live with the burden of cardiovascular diseases¶
- close to 13 million new cases of cardiovascular diseases occur every year¶
- over 18 % of cardiovascular disease-related deaths in Europe estimated to be caused by environmental risks¶
- estimated annual economic cost of EUR 282 billion¶
- an estimated 80 % of cardiovascular diseases are preventable¶
- only 11 out of 27 Member States have national cardiovascular plans¶
- tobacco use responsible for approximately 160 000 cardiovascular deaths and over 3,27 million disability-adjusted life years lost in the EU in 2023¶
Legal basis: Articles 7, 9, 168 and 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union¶
Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text and ¶ links to the paragraph it rests on. Check the text itself before relying on it.