Meer documenten
Questions and answers on the EU Safe Hearts Plan
Why is the Commission taking action on cardiovascular diseases?
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) – which include heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms and congenital heart diseases – have a massive public health, societal and economic impact.
They are the leading cause of death and disability in the EU, affecting around 62 million people and claiming 1.7 million lives every year. Risk factors are on the rise, with over half of adults being overweight. One in 3 young people is overweight or obese. Around 25% of the population are affected by hypertension, and yet 15% of people over 65 have not recently had a blood pressure check.
Without action, cardiovascular diseases are projected to rise by 90% by 2050. Furthermore, cardiovascular diseases cost the economy €282 billion per year. Although almost 80% of them can be prevented through lifestyle changes, prevention accounts for only under 6% of total healthcare spending in the EU.
The Safe Hearts Plan responds to address this problem directly. It responds to calls from Member States and the European Parliament for stronger action to protect the health of every EU citizen and of future generations.
What does the Safe Hearts Plan aim to achieve?
The Safe Hearts Plan aims to reach the following targets by 2035:
- 25% decrease in premature cardiovascular related deaths
- at least 75% of people aged 25 to 64, and at least 90% of people aged 65 and older, have their blood pressure measured once a year by a health professional
- at least 65% of people aged 25 to 64, and at least 80% of people aged 65 and older, have their cholesterol measured once a year by a health professional;
- at least 65% of people aged 25 to 64, and at least 80% of people aged 65 and older, have their blood sugar measured once a year by a health professional;
It will do so by improving EU-wide collaboration on prevention, early detection and screening, treatment and care across the EU. The Plan gives particular emphasis to shifting from treatment to prevention. This will be achieved by tapping into digital solutions, including artificial intelligence and personalised technologies, boosting research and innovation, and tackling inequalities between countries, regions, population groups and genders. The Plan will also support Member States in developing or further implementing national cardiovascular health plans. EU funds will also be made available to support the actions in today's Plan.
What is the added value of acting at EU level against these diseases?
Unlike cancer, so far, there has been no harmonised approach to cardiovascular and related diseases such as diabetes across the EU. As a result, the level of prevention, detection, diagnosis and care varies significantly between Member States, regions and population groups, leading to inequalities for citizens in access to prevention and care. Issues include knowledge gaps in prevention and early intervention, weak cross-border collaboration on research and low uptake of digital solutions.
Ambitious EU level actions combined with continued financial support, can help Member States to reduce existing inequalities. It can accelerate breakthroughs in research and innovation and improve exchange and collaboration through cross-border research programmes and centres of excellence.
Furthermore, EU-wide data collection – facilitated by the European Health Data Space – will provide up-to-date, comparable and reliable information upon which policies and actions can be built. This will help to guide investments and will also strengthen EU-based businesses and industries, such as the pharma and healthcare sectors.
What is proposed to help prevent cardiovascular disease?
Health promotion and disease prevention are the most cost-effective ways to reduce and manage cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors. The Safe Hearts Plan has a strong pillar on prevention focused on empowering citizens to have a lifelong and personalised approach to preventive health.
These include:
- Support for Member States in developing national CVD plans, and supporting those which already have such plans in place, through a new flagship action: ‘EU cares for your heart'.
- Stronger action against tobacco and smoking, with a forthcoming update of the EU tobacco legislation in 2026 and the goal of less than 5% of adults using tobacco by 2040.
- Addressing issues around ultra-processed' foods, high in fat, sugar and salt and will examine which appropriate tools, including possible financial actions, could be deployed to support and fund public health actions in the field of primary prevention and stimulate food reformulation and healthier consumer choices.
- Particular early intervention in children and young people to establish lifelong healthy habits, such as protecting children from harmful advertising in the review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
- Working towards a new comprehensive food processing assessment system to give consumers transparent, science-based digital information on food processing, to encourage shifts towards healthier diets.
- Promotion of regular physical activity, with a revision of the Council Recommendation on promoting health-enhancing physical activity and annual EU-wide campaigns like #BeActive and the European Week of Sport.
- Vaccination as a preventive measure for cardiovascular disease, with a proposed Council Recommendation to promote immunisation of high-risk and vulnerable groups against influenza, COVID-19, respiratory diseases and other infections.
How will the Plan improve screening and early detection?
Regular health checks, screening and personalised prevention tools can identify people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, or hereditary conditions, before any symptoms of cardiovascular diseases emerge. In December 2024, Member States called for action on early detection and screening in Council conclusions on cardiovascular disease.
The Safe Hearts Plan aims to cut premature deaths from cardiovascular disease by 25% by 2035.
Measures in the Plan to achieve this include:
- An EU Protocol on Health Checks for Cardiovascular Diseases, recommending that Member States pilot and launch a common approach on national health checks.
- Support for mobile screening programmes to bring screening and health services directly to people.
How will the Plan improve treatment and care?
People living with cardiovascular disease need access to high-quality, coordinated and patient-centred care, which is often long-term and multidisciplinary in nature. The Plan includes targeted actions to improve access to healthcare and therapies across the EU and address the significant inequalities that currently exist and support networks of excellence. To these ends, the Commission proposed:
- A Recommendation on better treatment for cardiovascular diseases, including through use of digital tools, to improve personalised treatment and integrated care.
- A European network of cardiovascular health centres to bring together expertise and facilitate the uptake of diagnosis and treatment, rehabilitation and long-term care.
- A Health Inequalities Dashboard to monitor inequalities in cardiovascular diseases. €40 million will also be invested to better understand gender-specific aspects of CVDs.
How will the Plan increase research, innovation, and digitalisation in the field?
The EU has already invested €2.3 billion in cardiovascular and related research.
With support of EU research programmes, the EU will step up investments to improve understanding and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and address the existing knowledge gaps, at the same time as promoting and accelerating the opportunities of digital technologies. Measures include:
- A Cardiovascular Disease Research and Innovation Roadmap to improve risk prediction, detection and screening, especially for women and vulnerable groups
- An Incubator to speed up the roll out and use of artificial intelligence and data-driven tools in cardiovascular healthcare. The EU4Health programme has €20 million as of 2026 available for this. This flagship initiative will establish common cardiovascular data parameters, to implement AI-driven solutions and digital tools.
- Research on cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases, under the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine
- Dedicated research on personalised prevention and care for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, including artificial intelligence and digital methods. The Plan makes €64 million available for this.
- Dedicated research on sustainable and healthy diets' role in for cardiovascular disease prevention. For this already €12 million is available under the Horizon Europe programme.
For more information