World Heart Federation’s Global Roadmap on Prevention of CVD and Diabetes

World Heart Federation’s (WHF) Global Roadmap for reducing the global burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients living with diabetes mellitus (DM) has been recently introduced by Dr. Laurence S. Sperling, MD, FACC, FAHA, FACP, who is the Founder and Director of Preventive Cardiology at the Emory Clinic and Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. The new Global Roadmap was launched by Dr. Sperling at the Joint European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress and World Congress of Cardiology in Paris, France.

Global Roadmap is a very important and vital document for professionals involved in the prevention of CVD in patients living with DM. The various facets of these preventive strategies include planning, organization, implementation, evaluation, and monitoring of programs.

This Global Roadmap is a ‘Vision Document’ that highlights the ideal pathway for the care of heart patients, the potential roadblocks along the pathway, and strategies for troubleshooting and finding solutions to the problems. This Global Roadmap on the prevention of CVD among people living with diabetes has been published in Global Heart, which is the official journal of the WHF.

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Facts & Figures: Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

• Major factors impacting CVD in diabetics include sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diets and lack of exercise
• 425 million people worldwide are currently living with Type 2 diabetes
• 600 million people worldwide will be living with Type 2 diabetes by 2045
• 50 percent of people living with diabetes are unaware that they have the disease
• Diabetes significantly increases the risk of CVD even when blood sugar levels are under control
• Diabetic patients are 2-3 times more likely to have coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, and stroke, compared to non-diabetics
• Prevention of CVD in diabetic patients involves lifestyle management and reduction of risk factors

“Diabetes and its related CVD complications are a huge global issue,” says Professor Karen Sliwa, MD, PhD, FACC, FESC, DTM & H, who is the President of WHF and Director of the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. “All over the world, due to limited resources, countries are struggling to provide the necessary preventive or medical care, with a disproportionate burden falling on low- and middle-income countries. Given the worldwide impact of the epidemic of CVD and diabetes, we decided to take action to address it globally through this new roadmap on the prevention of CVD among people living with diabetes.”

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How was the World Heart Federation’s Global Roadmap Developed?

The genesis of the WHF’s Global Roadmap began in 2014, when the WHF launched an initiative to create a series of Global Roadmaps focusing on identifying potential roadblocks associated with effective diagnosis, management and prevention of CVD, along with evidence-based solutions to overcome the hurdles. This endeavor involved a partnership between the WHF and the International Diabetes Federation. The development of the Global Roadmap involved participation by a wide range of experts, including diabetes specialists, scientists, implementation science professionals, as well as patients from around the globe.

In this regard, Sperling, who was the Chairman of the CVD and Diabetes Roadmap Writing Committee, indicates: “We have identified important gaps in the care of people living with diabetes who are at high cardiovascular risk, and focused on priorities and key action areas to close these gaps. We also provide an implementation toolkit for successful translation of the Roadmap to national and local initiatives, aiming to ensure that as many people living with diabetes as possible receive optimal preventive care and treatment.”

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What is the Importance of the World Heart Federation’s Global Roadmap?

The WHF’s Global Roadmap is very important as it presents an integrated strategy for the care of heart patients, which collectively takes into account the perspectives of patients, healthcare professionals, as well as policymakers.

This Global Roadmap is a vital resource for guiding initiatives that promote heart health worldwide by translating science into actionable policies that influence governments, health agencies, as well as policymakers around the globe.

Importantly, this Global Roadmap can be used by countries to develop or update their policies and programs on non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The major aim is to drive national health agendas for achieving the ambitious Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of a 30 percent reduction in premature deaths arising from NCDs, including CVD, by 2030.

Concluding Remarks

Sperling concludes: “In order to be implemented successfully, the CVD and diabetes Roadmap requires committed global action. Launching the Roadmap at the largest cardiovascular congress in the world is the perfect forum to raise awareness of this impactful global epidemic. Our goal is to demonstrate how utilization of this Roadmap can help a broad base of stakeholders begin to tackle the problem and make a longstanding difference.”

Funding Source

The development of the Global Roadmap was funded by the International Diabetes Federation, Brussels, Belgium and the World Heart Federation, Geneva, Switzerland.

Reference:

1. A Roadmap on the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Among People Living With Diabetes - (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gheart.2019.07.009)

Source-Medindia