As cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death and disability in the EU, the European Commission launched their Cardiovascular Health Plan - the Safe Hearts Plan - on December 16th. The goal is to strengthen EU-wide collaboration on prevention, early detection and screening, treatment and care, and to reduce inequalities across Member States.
JA PreventNCD celebrates the publication of the Safe Hearts Plan and its clear commitment to strengthen Europe’s efforts towards health promotion and prevention across the life course. The Plan’s pillars on prevention and on early detection and screening, strongly aligns with JA PreventNCD’s mission to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases by addressing both personal and societal risk factors, while actively reducing health inequalities.
Key elements where we see strong alignment
The Plan provides timely EU-level direction and practical support for Member States, with an emphasis on targeted actions where EU cooperation can add value, while respecting national competences in health policy.
JA PreventNCD welcomes the Plan’s clear structure across the cardiovascular pathway, and its focus on accelerating prevention while improving early detection and care.
In particular, we note strong alignment with JA PreventNCD priorities in the following areas:
1) Life course prevention, supported by a new flagship programme
The Plan launches a flagship programme for life-long, personalised and digitally enabled prevention, “EU cares for your heart”, including support for Member States to develop or strengthen national cardiovascular health plans.
2) Clear action on major, modifiable risk factors
The prevention pillar explicitly recognises key modifiable risk factors, including diet, physical inactivity, tobacco and harmful use of alcohol.
It includes concrete steps such as modernising tobacco control legislation, with a proposal for a revision of the legislative framework on tobacco control in 2026 and reinforcement of the long-term tobacco endgame goal.
The Plan also points to action on unhealthy diets and “ultra-processed foods”, with the initiative to examine appropriate tools, potentially including financial actions, to support primary prevention and stimulate reformulation and more access to healthier choices.
3) Prevention starting early, with stronger protections for children and young people
JA PreventNCD welcomes the Plan’s focus on early intervention in children and young people, including the intention to evaluate the Audiovisual Media Services Directive by end 2026 and consider revision, as part of efforts to protect minors from harmful content and advertising.
4) Early detection and screening with an EU protocol on health checks
The Plan includes development of an EU protocol on health checks and a 2026 Council recommendation to support a common approach across Member States, alongside support for mobile screening outreach programmes and awareness efforts.
5) Reaching every citizen, with a stronger focus on inequalities
JA PreventNCD strongly supports the Plan’s emphasis on reducing inequalities across countries, regions, population groups and genders, including the intention to develop an EU cardiovascular health inequalities dashboard modelled on the European Cancer Inequalities Registry.
6) Research, innovation and responsible digitalisation
The Plan highlights EU investment in cardiovascular and related research and includes a flagship incubator to accelerate AI and data-driven tools for earlier detection, personalised prevention and integrated care, with attention to cross-border validation and equitable access.
Important considerations to strengthen impact
JA PreventNCD also underlines that the Plan’s prevention ambition will only be realised if prevention is backed by sustained investment, and if population-level approaches remain central alongside individual-level tools.
According to Professor Knut-Inge Klepp, Scientific Coordinator of JA PreventNCD:
“Europe has strong evidence on what works, but prevention is still not funded at the level needed to match the scale of the challenge. The Safe Hearts Plan is a major opportunity, and its impact will depend on sustained investment and strong population-level measures that reduce exposure to risk factors for everyone, alongside targeted support for individuals at risk.”
JA PreventNCD highlights three areas where a sharper focus will strengthen delivery while protecting health equity:
Keep population-level prevention and health promotion at the core
Annual measurements, health checks, digital tools and personalised prevention can reinforce policy measures that shape healthier environments and reduce exposure to risk factors for everyone while highlighting the health and wellbeing for all. Building on the new evidence on ultraprocessed foods, obesitogenic environments should be strongly addressed at the strategic level.
Build equity safeguards into implementation from the start
The Plan rightly prioritises reaching every citizen and proposes monitoring tools. Equity-by-design should be embedded across implementation, including support for health literacy, outreach models that reach underserved communities and vulnerable populations, and monitoring that demonstrates measurable reductions in inequalities.
Address alcohol more strongly as a cardiovascular risk factor
JA PreventNCD welcomes the Plan’s recognition that harmful use of alcohol is a cardiovascular risk factor, including concerns about underage and binge drinking. At the same time, alcohol remains a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, other non-communicable diseases, and health inequalities across Europe, warranting stronger prevention measures as part of a comprehensive risk-factor approach.
JA PreventNCD stands ready to support delivery
JA PreventNCD is an EU4Health co-funded Joint Action bringing together 25 countries and more than 100 organisations to strengthen health promotion, NCD prevention and health equity across Europe. The project is generating deliverables directly relevant to the Safe Hearts Plan, including monitoring tools, tested best practices, policy recommendations and governance mechanisms, and it is establishing long-term sustainability structures.
JA PreventNCD is committed to supporting the European Commission and Member States in translating the Safe Hearts Plan into measurable prevention and health promotion gains and reduced inequalities across Europe. Recognising the societal value of health and maintaining strong investment in prevention and health promotion will help support a resilient and prosperous Europe.
More information
For more information about the Safe Hearts Plan, visit the European Commission’s page on cardiovascular health.
For more detailed information about JA PreventNCD, read our recently published Special Issue in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.
You can also read JA PreventNCD’s statement to the Call for Evidence for the EU Cardiovascular Health Plan (published in September).
Disclaimer
JA PreventNCD (Grant Agreement 101128023) is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor HADEA can be held responsible for them.