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Penilla Gunther: The Council of the European Union is calling for more robust efforts to help prevent cardiovascular diseases

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Dec 6, 2024, 15:44

Penilla Gunther: The Council of the European Union is calling for more robust efforts to help prevent cardiovascular diseases

Penilla Gunther, Member of the EU Cancer Mission, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Decision today by Council of the European Union:

Cardiovascular health: Council calls for more robust efforts to help prevent cardiovascular diseases.

‘The Council is calling for more robust efforts to help prevent cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of death in the European Union. In conclusions approved today, the Council puts forward a series of measures aimed at improving cardiovascular health in the EU, focusing specifically on prevention, early detection, treatment and rehabilitation.

Cardiovascular diseases have a devastating impact on individuals and their families, yet in most cases they can be prevented by addressing underlying risk factors through healthier lifestyle choices.

Screening and better access to treatment are essential elements to reduce the impact of CVDs. Today’s conclusions reflect our commitment to improving cardiovascular health throughout the EU.

Péter Takács, Hungarian Secretary of State for Health

In its conclusions, the Council pushes for particular attention to be given to preventive measures such as improving health literacy, raising awareness about cardiovascular health, and discouraging unhealthy lifestyle choices like tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption or an unhealthy diet.

The Council also calls on member states to ensure equal access to cardiovascular healthcare, incorporate screening into regular health checks, and strengthen training for healthcare workers.

Finally, the Council invites the Commission to take comprehensive action to help reduce the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in the EU, emphasising not only health promotion and prevention but also screening, early detection, treatment, rehabilitation, and advancing research and innovation.’ ”

More posts featuring Penilla Gunther.

Penilla Gunther is a member of the EU Cancer Mission and Former Member of Swedish Parliament. She is an experienced policy maker as former Member of Swedish Parliament, the Nordic Council and chair of the Welfare Committee, and also from local and regional councils.

She is the founder of FOKUS Patient, a digital and physical meeting place for life science and healthcare with a patient perspective, President of the European Patient Safety Foundation and appointed by the European Commission as an Expert in the Cancer Mission Board. Penilla is a life-long patient as being heart transplanted 15 years ago and cancer survivor twice.

Penilla Gunther co-chaired the European Cancer Organization’s SmartCARE steering committee, a landmark initiative of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan under the EU4Health Programme, digital tool to reduce the communication gap between survivors and health and social-care providers.