Participants at the meeting included Professor Michel Komajda, President of the ESC, Professor Panos Vardas, President-Elect of the ESC and Professor Frans Van de Werf, chair of the ESC European Affairs Committee. Representing the European Society for Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery (ESCVS) were Professor Marian Zembala, current President, and Professor Vladislav Treska, General Secretary. Professor Ottavio Alfieri and Professor Pieter Kappetein were representing the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), respectively as its President and its Secretary General.
Understanding the disease and improving its management are two concerns of a cardiologist: the availability of comparable data on cardiovascular disease in Europe is crucial and was discussed as one of the main challenges in Europe, at EU and member states levels.
Another challenge will be to raise the funding dedicated to cardiovascular research, to help understand how the diseases develops as well as find treatment and cure.
Finally, participants in the meeting shared with Mr Buzek the efforts of the profession to improve the quality of care across Europe, hence striving to reduce inequalities in access to optimal care and treatment, and to provide the best possible level education to medical students as well as to confirmed doctors.
Over the next few months, the members of the European Parliament will be faced with several pieces of legislation that contribute to reducing the burden of cardiovascular health in Europe: the content and budget of the next research framework, the recast of the medical devices directives as well as the revision of the clinical trials directive.