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World Heart Federation Emerging Leaders to drive improved global access to essential CVD medicines 16 Jun 2017 6:17 AM (7 years ago)

2017 marks the fourth year of the World Heart Federation Emerging Leaders programme and will focus on access to essential medicines for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including heart disease and stroke. Despite the availability for decades of evidence-based medicines to prevent and treat CVD, their use is still very low. Access to essential CVD medicines is worryingly low globally and particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where some of the barriers to CVD medicines access include poor access to health care facilities, low availability, poor quality of medication and unaffordability. This places a heavy financial burden on individuals and households, and creates an urgent need to find innovative ways - from policies through to models of care - to improve access to these live-saving medications. Launched by former World Heart President Salim Yusuf, the 2017 World Heart Federation Emerging Leaders cohort will build capacity for research and advocacy to support projects which harness local knowledge and global expertise to improve access to medicines through stronger policies and strengthened programmes. Previous cohorts have focused on secondary prevention of CVD, raised blood pressure, and tobacco prevention and control. The 2017 Emerging Leader Think Tank will be hosted at the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town from 18-23 June 2017. The Think Tank will include lectures by leaders in the field, seminars and a round table discussion with experts, industry representatives and healthcare workers, amongst others. Karen Sliwa, World Heart Federation President-Elect: 
"When patients are uninsured and have to pay to purchase generic medicines, it puts an enormous and relentless financial burden on individuals and households. In many developing countries, the high cost of chronic medicine treatment, including CVD and other non-communicable disease medicines, can often push families below the poverty line." David Wood, World Heart Federation President: 
"By developing the next generation of leaders, the Emerging Leaders Programme plays an important role in helping the World Heart Federation to achieve our mission and vision: a 25% reduction in premature mortality cause by CVD by 2025. Over the next few years, this programme will train more than 125 participants selected to represent at least 50 countries. These individuals will have demonstrated long-term promise through their early career success, creativity and passion for improving cardiovascular health and preventing CVD. As a consequence of their participation in the Emerging Leaders Programme, these professionals will have the capacity to effect change over the remainder of their careers, well beyond 2025." Emerging Leaders 2017 Jennifer Jones, United Kingdom Lilian Mbau, Kenya Roopa Shivashankar, India Emily Atkins, Australia Joao Pedro Ferreira, Portugal Jose Ferrer, USA/Philippines Sarah Kraus, South Africa Tangeni Auala, Namibia Xiaodong Guan, China Abhishek Sharma, India Ahmadou Jingi, Cameroon Alberto Morales Salinas, Cuba Asim Katbeh, Syria Christelle Crickmore, South Africa Karla Santo, Brazil Neusa Jessen, Mozambique Rajmohan Panda, India Salim Virani, USA Shiva Raj Mishra, Nepal Augustine Odili, Nigeria Sainimere Boladuadua, Fiji Adrianna Murphy, Canada/Rwanda Godsent Isiguzo, South Africa Jordan Jarvis, Canada Sandeep Kishore, USA

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A Healthy Heart Your Goal: Join the #MatchFitWoman challenge ahead of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 13 Jun 2017 11:33 PM (7 years ago)

The World Heart Federation is partnering with UEFA, the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), and the Healthy Stadia network to promote heart health and fight against cardiovascular disease ahead of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2017. Under the theme A healthy Heart Your Goal, activities are taking place in the Netherlands and across Europe to encourage children, women and all fans to lead an active, healthy lifestyle and take up sports such as football to help keep their heart healthy Heart disease and stroke is the number one killer of women in Europe, a fact that many women don’t know. The good news is that most cardiovascular disease could be prevented, and physical activity is a key way of helping to keep your heart healthy. However, a new research in 4 European countries reveals that three quarters of women are doing less than the recommended level of activity. There is no lack of willingness to exercise as 72% of women questioned would like to be more active, but they quote embarrassment about their lack of fitness (31%), being too busy (42%) and worries about the cost of exercise (36%) as some of the reasons for not exercising more. To help reverse this trend, we encourage women across Europe to join the #MatchFitWoman 28 days challenge: improving their heart health by setting goals to get active for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week until the Women’s EURO kicks off on 16th July. 
The players are training for the competition, and we believe that every woman can also be match fit – it’s not about trying to achieve a high level of athleticism or an unrealistic body shape. Being a #MatchFitWoman is about recognising that even with our busy lives, we can all make small changes to be more active, fit and healthy. Join the #MatchFitWoman Challenge starting on Monday 19th June and get active in the run up to the UEFA Women’s EURO 2017! You will receive daily tips and ideas to build more activity into your everyday life. By sharing activity goals on Facebook and Twitter, you will also be in with a chance of winning fantastic football prizes including VIP tickets to the Women’s EURO 2017 final in the Netherlands. View the #MatchFitWoman movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDsE9pIsSL4 Join the challenge here, or search #MatchFitWoman, Twitter @worldheartfed www.facebook.com/worldheartfederation  
Learn more and read the full press releases about the research on www.worldheart.org/womenseuro 

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70th World Health Assembly: Round-up of Key Decisions 12 Jun 2017 5:26 AM (7 years ago)

Election of new WHO Director-General: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus On Tuesday 25 May, Ethiopian Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was elected as the new WHO Director-General. Dr Tedros, as he is known, will be the first Director-General from the African region and the first to be elected following a transparent and competitive process. His term will last last five years, beginning on 01 July 2017. Dr Tedros placed a strong focus on universal health coverage in his campaign, and has also recognized the growing importance of tackling the global NCD epidemic. Speaking at a Geneva side event, Dr Tedros emphasized that NCDs such as cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes were preventable, declaring: ‘it’s in our hands’. Endorsement of Appendix 3
Under Agenda Item 15.1, Member States adopted a Resolution on Preparations for the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2018. The Resolution included provisions to note the workplan of the Global Coordinating Mechanism on NCDs for 2018-2019, and urged countries to honour their international commitments on NCDs.
Additionally, following extensive parallel discussions, Member States also voted to endorse the updated version of Appendix 3 – a list of cost-effective policy options to tackle NCDs. However the United States of America disassociated itself from this endorsement of Appendix 3, and registered similar objections to certain measures contained in the Implementation Plan on Ending Childhood Obesity Adoption of Resolution on the Health of Refugees and Migrants
During lengthy discussions on Agenda Item 13.7, Member States acknowledged the necessity of strengthening whole health systems in order to promote the health of refugees and migrants, as well as the importance of responding to both the physical and mental health needs of migrants and refugees. Member States also adopted a Resolution on this item. This Resolution asks the WHO Director-General to identify best practices and experiences on health services for refugees and migrants; these would then inform the drafting of a Global Action Plan on the Health of Refugees and Migrants, which is scheduled to be discussed in May 2019.  Cancer Resolution adopted In another policy win for the NCD community, on Tuesday 30 May Member States adopted a global Resolution on ‘Cancer prevention and control in the context of an integrated approach’. 
A large number of Member States and non-State actors spoke in support of the Resolution during the discussions: we congratulate our colleagues at UICC on the successful adoption of this global policy, which includes provisions for a World Cancer Report in 2019.

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Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease Resolution Recommended by WHO Executive Board 12 Jun 2017 4:05 AM (7 years ago)

 

 

Once adopted by the full World Health Assembly after further discussions in May next year, the Resolution will represent the first global commitment on RHD to be endorsed by all governments. This represents a significant step forward for the cardiovascular community, as this global policy will demand national and international decision-makers to take action to prioritize and fund RHD prevention and control in all endemic settings. The Resolution document itself was written by a group of governments, led by New Zealand, who recognized that RHD could no longer be ignored. Speaking during the EB discussions, the representative from New Zealand called RHD a ‘significant, preventable public health problem’ whose burden ‘disproportionately affects women and young people’. His call to action was echoed by outgoing WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. She drew attention to the 33 million people living with RHD around the world, and urged Member States to act, saying ‘we can get most of the cases prevented’. During the discussions, the World Heart Federation delivered a policy statement which called for strong commitment to the ‘coordinated global response’ and stressed the importance of sustained funding and setting clear goals and targets to guide progress. The statement also called for people living with RHD and front-line health workers to be meaningfully engaged in designing and implementing the work ahead. A number of Member States strongly supported the Resolution; we have included a selection of quotes from Member State representatives below: Benin: “As the report makes clear RHD is an avoidable public health problem.” Canada: “For [tackling] RHD this means addressing social determinants of health like overcrowding low socio-economic status and lack of access to health care.” Fiji: “Rheumatic heart disease is a preventable disease, but sadly many innocent children have acquired this disease as a consequence of circumstances well beyond their control.” Iraq: “As recently stated by the RHD global community, it is time to tackle RHD and revive WHO work in this field.” Italy: “We have an ethical duty to address [RHD] as a priority in our agenda.” Pakistan: “It is high time we take action to prevent, control and eventually eliminate RHD from our populations.”
If you have any questions regarding the Resolution process, please contact resolution@rhdaction.org.  

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Early Action in Diabetes 7 Jun 2017 4:41 AM (7 years ago)

The Early Action journey began in 2015 and has since spread to more than 35 countries – connecting leading experts with key decision makers at events in Paris, London, New Orleans and Barcelona. The latest stage of this journey took place in Berlin in December 2016 with the Global Diabetes Policy Forum. Early Action brings together a broad coalition of leading thinkers in diabetes care, advocates for patients, healthcare professionals, and policy makers, all sharing a passion to drive forward transformative reforms around the world. Inspired and funded by AstraZeneca, Early Action operates in partnership with the International Diabetes Federation, Primary Care Diabetes Europe and the World Heart Federation – and, in connection with the Forum in Berlin, with support from German Diabetes Aid (GDA). 
During 2016, some two dozen global experts volunteered to participate in four International Working Groups, each charged with reviewing the latest best practice in policy making. This work culminated in a new consolidated call to action and vision for improved policy-making in diabetes: The Berlin Declaration. Formally introduced at the Global Diabetes Policy Forum in Berlin, the Declaration equips the diabetes community with useful evidence and best-practice examples for communicating the Early Action message to a wider audience of policy makers, fostering a sense of urgency, and building the large-scale movement needed to generate rapid and meaningful progress in tackling Type 2 diabetes. 
Berlin e-Report now available This short report summarizes discussions held at the Berlin Forum, highlights key conclusions and agreements and describes the plans that delegates formulated to achieve near-term policy change in their countries. The Early Action community will reconvene in Rome on 17-18 Octobre, 2017 to review progress achieved and decide on next steps to improve diabetes policy worldwide.  You can read the report in full here.

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Tobacco: a threat to development 1 Jun 2017 12:51 AM (7 years ago)

The event featured panelists from the governments of Panama, Italy and the Philippines, as well as from the Secretariats of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and WHO. Chandra Kishore Mishra – President of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC – underlined the threat tobacco consumption poses to sustainable development, noting its effect on lost productivity and contribution to deforestation. 
H.E. Maurizio Enrico Serra, the Italian Ambassador to the UN, emphasized the potential of tobacco taxation to contribute to domestic resources, while Dr Maria Luisa Silva – from the UN Development Programme – warned of the need to protect against industry’s ‘predatory marketing strategies’ in low- and lower middle-income countries. Summarizing the goal of World No Tobacco Day, Dr Mishra concluded: ‘it’s about health, it’s about economy, it’s about prosperity’. 

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Joint statement by WHF and NCD Alliance on UN HLM in 2018 1 Jun 2017 12:42 AM (7 years ago)

Describing NCDs as the 'social justice issue of our time', the statement underlined the key political and technical preparations necessary to make the meeting a success, including:
  1.  Participation by heads of state and government
  2.  Political mobilization across health and relevant non-health sectors
  3.  Meaningful engagement of people living with NCDs and civil society
  4.  An action-oriented outcome document with bold commitments for all relevant sectors
The statement also called for adequate financing for 'chronically underfunded' NCDs, and noted the development opportunities offered by engagement with sectors such as education, energy and transport.
During Member State discussions on this issue, many countries - including Sri Lanka, Estonia and Liberia - called for greater action on the harmful use of alcohol, while the Philippines stated its intention to pursue regulatory reforms to increase action to tackle NCDs. The vast majority of Member States expressed strong support for preparations for HLM 2018.
Following extensive parallel discussions on the updated Appendix 3 – a list of cost-effective policy options to tackle NCDs – Member States passed the draft Resolution on this item. However the United States of America disassociated itself from this endorsement of Appendix 3, while Italy too expressed reservations.
You can read the policy statement in full here. To find out more about CVD advocacy around the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs, you can listen to a recording of a webinar delivered by the WHF Policy & Advocacy Team here. 

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Address by Dr Margaret Chan at the 70th World Health Assembly, 22 May 22 May 2017 6:23 AM (7 years ago)

In a powerful speech in which she reflected on developments in public health over the past decade, Dr Chan also refuted claims that the WHO had lost its relevance, saying “the facts tell a different story”.  She highlighted WHO's convening power, its culture of “evidence-based learning”, and its success in helping to reduce the price of generic medicines, despite the “contentiousness” of this issue.  She also addressed the huge challenges faced by WHO during her administration, including the global financial crisis and outbreaks of Ebola and Zika. Stating that the Ebola virus had taken “everyone by surprise”, she nevertheless acknowledged that WHO were too slow to realize the new challenges presented by 2014's outbreak. Dr Chan has held the position of Director-General of WHO for eleven years, having been appointed to the post in November 2006. The new Director-General - who will be elected at the World Health Assembly this week - will take up their new role at the beginning of July.  

NCDs a “shift in public health”

Dr Chan emphasized the paradigm shift that has taken place in public health resulting from the rise of chronic non-communicable diseases such as CVD. She called for a move away from curing diseases towards prevention, saying “no country on this planet can treat their way out of all the diseases that are affecting our people”. She underlined the importance of civil society, whom she described as “society's conscience”, and stated that tackling tobacco, alcohol and childhood obesity should be public health priorities. Dr Chan concluded her address with some advice for the Health Assembly: to continue to reduce inequalities, ensure accountability, to listen to civil society and most importantly, to never forget that “behind every number is a person”.  

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Professor David Wood, WHF President, on participating in the 70th World Health Assembly 22 May 2017 1:20 AM (7 years ago)

As President of the World Heart Federation, I am delighted to welcome a large delegation of member partners, members, Board and staff to the event. Through our leading position in cardiovascular health, we aim to raise the profile of CVD to ensure that global health policies meet the needs of patients and our global membership.
In addition to a packed agenda, many WHA attendees are focused on the election of the next Director-General of the WHO, as Dr Margaret Chan steps aside after 10 years in the post. There are three excellent candidates in the running: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Dr David Nabarro and Dr Sania Nishtar. 
The new Director-General will be selected and announced on Tuesday. They will face a number of challenges – not least tackling non-communicable diseases and CVD – and we look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.  
In the Assembly itself, our delegation will be delivering statements on key agenda items such as access to medicines, the health of refugees and migrants, and women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. 
We will also follow the debate on Preparations for the High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases in 2018 with a great deal of interest: the outcome of this conference will have a big impact on our ability to reach the 25by25 goal [a 25% reduction in premature mortality cause by CVD by 2025]. This year we are proud to co-host two events during the first week of the Assembly. The first – led by our colleagues at NCD Child – will look at ways to provide Better Medicines for Children, while the second – co-organized alongside Devex and IAPO – will focus on Heart Health in the Era of Longevity. Both events offer a fantastic opportunity to place CVD at the heart of the global health agenda.
Immediately after the World Health Assembly comes another important meeting: the WHO Executive Board, also in Geneva. This will mark a momentous occasion, as Member States will begin global discussions on rheumatic heart disease: a deadly, but neglected CVD. This global dialogue – the first of its kind for rheumatic heart disease – comes as a direct result of our #TimeToTackleRHD campaign, which is coordinated by the World Heart Federation, on behalf of RHD Action and the global RHD community. 
Make sure to follow Members’ News to receive the latest updates from the WHA throughout the meeting. We look forward to representing the CVD community at the Assembly, and to continuing to work with our Members to strengthen heart-healthy policies everywhere.

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Football Scores Goals for Health 15 May 2017 1:43 AM (7 years ago)

 

The Conference celebrated 10 years of the European Healthy Stadia movement which guides clubs and stadium operators on developing venues as ‘health promoting settings’. Building on previous conferences in Geneva and Manchester, the 2017 edition of the conference had a specific focus on the growing number of partnerships between academic researchers and the football family in Europe.

 

One such example presented on the day was the EuroFIT Programme which has recently been adopted by the Portuguese Football Federation. EuroFIT uses professional football clubs and their stadia to increase levels of physical activity and reduce sitting time amongst overweight football fans, and successes to date were presented by programme lead, Professor Sally Wyke from University of Glasgow, and André Seabra, Director of the Portuguese Football Federation’s National Football School.

 

The conference also previewed the Make A Healthy Heart Your Goal campaign that will run at UEFA Women’s EURO in the Netherlands this summer that will promote heart health to women and families through a partnership of UEFA, World Heart Federation, KNVB and the Dutch Heart Foundation. 

 

Other examples of good practice on the day included mental health first aid training for club academies in England delivered by the Premier League, a healthier eating programme for young people entitled Eat Move Sleep delivered by football clubs across Norway by the Norwegian Football Federation, and the tobacco-free stadium policy implemented at EURO 2016 in France by UEFA in partnership with European Healthy Stadia Network.

 

Commenting on the conference, Marc Nipius (CSR, Royal Dutch Football Association) commented:

 

“KNVB was pleased to speak at the European Healthy Stadia Conference 2017 to share upcoming work on the Make a Healthy Heart Your Goal campaign for UEFA Women’s EURO 2017, and to learn about good practices in health interventions delivered through sport. KNVB will focus their domestic CSR strategy on healthy lifestyles, especially for children. In the Netherlands only 23% of the children get their daily recommended amount of exercise. Our goal is to improve this number to encourage children to play football at the grassroots clubs but also exercise at home.”

 

Speaking about the event, Matthew Philpott, Executive Director of European Healthy Stadia Network said:

 

“The European Healthy Stadia Network is proud to host its fourth European Conference at the Emirates Stadium. We are particularly pleased to bring together a wide range of clubs, governing bodies and health agencies, and in addition many academic researchers who are helping sports organisation to measure the impact of stadium policies and community interventions promoting health.”

 

 

The Conference was organised by the European Healthy Stadia Network, and supported by the World Heart Federation through its partnership with UEFA - www.healthystadia.eu

 

Further Information: Matthew Philpott – + 44 151 237 2686 / +44 7826 533013 matthew.philpott@healthystadia.eu

 

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