The European Commission has released new guidelines to help EU countries strengthen prevention, screening, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. It includes a call for national heart-health plans by 2027.

The framework, known as the Safe Hearts Plan, sets out nonbinding recommendations organized around three areas: prevention, early detection, and treatment and care, including rehabilitation. The Commission says the guidance is intended to help member states develop or update national cardiovascular strategies.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of illness and death in the EU, accounting for 1 in 3 deaths, according to a 2025 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. The burden is expected to grow substantially, with prevalence projected to increase by 90% between 2025 and 2050 and deaths by 73% over the same period.

“The Safe Hearts Plan is a milestone that lends cardiovascular health visibility and indicates urgency,” Renate Schnabel, MD, MSc, professor of cardiology at the University Heart Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, told Medscape News Europe. “General guidance by the EU could reduce uncertainties, encourage uptake, and provide structures for implementation,” she added.

Prevention as a Cornerstone

Prevention is a central focus of the plan, which the Commission describes as the most cost-effective way to address cardiovascular disease and its risk factors.

“The Safe Hearts Plan focuses on prevention as the most cost-effective way of addressing cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors,” Eva Hrncirova, MA, a European Commission spokesperson, told Medscape News Europe.

Dietary policy features prominently. Among the plan’s flagship initiatives is a proposed food-processing assessment system that would take portion size, frequency of intake, and a product’s role in the overall diet into account, with the aim of encouraging shifts toward healthier eating patterns.

The guidelines also call for stronger tobacco control, promotion of regular physical activity, and expanded efforts to protect children from advertising for unhealthy foods and beverages.

“Structural prevention measures — such as taxation and regulation of tobacco, nicotine products, and unhealthy foods — are likely to have a larger and more equitable impact on cardiovascular health than individual-level targets alone,” Gunnar Gislason, MD, PhD, professor of cardiology at Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark, told Medscape News Europe.

The plan also highlights vaccination as part of cardiovascular prevention, encouraging countries to strengthen national immunization information systems and registries and to train healthcare professionals on links between certain vaccine-preventable diseases and cardiovascular conditions.

Early Detection

On early detection, the Commission says it will support member states in developing and implementing national health checks aimed at identifying cardiovascular risk factors sooner.

Schnabel said that while prevention measures can take years to translate into measurable population-level benefits, earlier detection can have a more immediate impact.

“For hypertension, lipids, and diabetes, a significant reduction in morbidity can be expected if these risk factors are identified and treated,” she said.

Others cautioned that screening programs must be carefully designed. Gislason said evidence supporting broad, population-wide cardiovascular screening remains limited.

“The evidence for broad, population-wide cardiovascular screening remains limited, particularly regarding hard outcomes, and such programs often fail to reach those at highest risk,” he said.

“If not carefully designed, large-scale health checks may divert scarce healthcare resources away from more effective care, including secondary prevention and management of high-risk patients, and could inadvertently widen socioeconomic inequalities. Targeting, follow-up capacity, and equity considerations will therefore be critical in implementation,” he added.

Treatment and Care

The guidelines also address treatment and long-term management, including proposals to improve coordination of care across the EU.

Among the measures outlined is the creation of an EU network of cardiovascular health centers intended to support diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term care.

In parallel, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control plans to revise EU legislation governing medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices, with the aim of accelerating regulatory pathways.

“Faster, less bureaucratic approval of novel methods and devices in a safe digital environment could significantly enhance detection and monitoring of risk factors and cardiovascular diseases,” Schnabel said.

The plan also references broader legislative initiatives, including the proposed Biotech Act, which aims to accelerate time to market for biotech products, and revisions to EU pharmaceutical legislation intended to modernize regulatory frameworks, incentivize research and innovation, and streamline authorization processes while supporting access to essential cardiovascular-related medicines.

“Many of the most impactful cardiovascular treatments are well established and cost-effective, yet access and adherence still vary considerably across countries and population groups. Here, the EU has a clear opportunity to add value through coordinated approaches to procurement, pricing, and market access, helping to reduce inequalities and improve outcomes across member states,” Gislason said.

The Commission has also committed €20 million to a flagship initiative aimed at accelerating artificial intelligence (AI)- and data-driven tools for early diagnosis, personalized prevention, and integrated care for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.

“Whether or not AI will revolutionize cardiovascular healthcare in the near future remains to be seen,” Schnabel said, adding that digitalization could nevertheless support efforts ranging from mobile screening programs to rehabilitation and secondary prevention.

“Overall, careful implementation will be essential to ensure that resources are used where they generate the greatest benefit, and that the plan contributes to reducing, rather than widening, cardiovascular inequalities across Europe,” Gislason said.

Gislason reported no relevant financial relationships.

Schnabel reported receiving funding from the European Research Council, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program, MSCA Doctoral Networks, and German Center for Cardiovascular Research. She has also received lecture fees and advisory board fees from BMS/Pfizer and Bayer outside this work.

Annie Lennon is a medical journalist. Her writing appears on Medscape, WebMD, and Medical News Today, among other outlets.