Brussels, 29/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On World Heart Day, 29 September, the Heart Failure Policy Network (HFPN), which brings together parliamentarians, patients and health professions from all over Europe, launched an initiative at the European Parliament to raise awareness among politicians of this serious chronic condition.
“Heart failure is the biggest threat to our health care systems. We need to develop national plans which address heart failure before it's too late”, argued Ian Duncan, an HFPN member and ECR MEP (UK). The event, Bringing heart failure into mainstream heart policy, was chaired by MEPs Aldo Patriciello (EPP, Italy) and Swedish MP Penilla Gunther.
In his speech, Dr Gonzalez Juanatey, an HFPN member and president of the Spanish Society of Cardiology, recommended a multidisciplinary, patient-centred approach. He said: “Heart failure is not on healthcare professionals' radars - yet it is a condition where time is critical - a delay of as little as four to six hours after the onset of acute symptoms, can increase the patient's risk of death”. Nick Hartshorne-Evans, chief executive of the patient association Pumping Marvellous, highlighted the potential cost of heart failure to health systems. He said that it is the main cause of hospitalisation in people over the age of 65. HFPN calls on decision-makers to take this condition seriously. Its key demands include making heart failure a national priority, better diagnosis for those at risk, increased awareness and education of health professionals and high quality specialist care for patients. (Original version in French by Isabelle Lamberty)