This event, called "For Your Heart's Sake", adds an important public perspective and orientation to the European calendar of heart diseases managements and prevention. The event is intended to create public awareness of heart disease and support public health initiatives in the fight against it.
The "For Your Heart's Sake" public awareness initiatives are usually hosted coinciding with the Annual Congress of the ESC and organised in partnership with the National Cardiac Society and National Heart Foundation of the respective countries and the City Councils of the respective hosting cities.
Each year, as a result of the ESC Congress and the ESC General Public Awareness Initiative, a city becomes the Heart of Europe during the first week of September.
Joint roles of major European cities in fighting heart diseases
With the coinciding Public Awareness Initiative now every time together with the scientific congress, the ESC has created a circle of Healthy Heart Cities in Europe. Subsequent to this event, a symbolic transition from one European "Heart City" to another is taking place at the opening ceremony of the event. This link is goes through the symbolic transition of a heart statue passing from one city to the other.
Cities involved as of today: Amsterdam, Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna, Cork, Munich and Barcelona to come.
"For Your Heart's Sake" has become particularly relevant in the context of the recent European Affairs activities initiated by the European Society of Cardiology with the Irish Department of Health and Children during its European Union presidency, which include the Cork Consensus Conference held in Ireland last February.