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What is the European Heart Network?
The European Heart Network (EHN) is a European umbrella organisation focused on preventing and reducing cardiovascular disease, especially heart disease and stroke. It works through advocacy, networking, capacity-building, representing patient interests and research. Its members are national heart foundations and associations across Europe that support patients, represent patient interests and fund research.
Its page frames the issue in broad public-health terms: CVD accounts for 45% of all deaths in Europe (3.9 million deaths a year), 85 million people live with CVD in Europe, and the annual cost to the EU economy is put at €210 billion. EHN's stated mission is that every European has a right to a life free from avoidable cardiovascular disease.
What it actually does
- Prevention: pushes for reduced exposure to the main CVD risk factors to increase years lived in good health.
- EU policy: works on EU policy files affecting cardiovascular patients.
- Research: runs a research platform linking research-funding members and connects them with its Patient Group.
- Patient involvement: helps patients act as partners in person-centred cardiovascular research and innovation.
- Campaigns and publications: runs awareness campaigns and publishes material, including European CVD statistics.
Who it is useful for
A journalist needing Europe-level CVD figures, a patient organisation looking for a national counterpart, or a researcher seeking patient-partnership channels would find the statistics, member list and project pages the most directly useful. Someone seeking personal medical advice should look elsewhere; this is a policy and advocacy network, not a clinical service.
As a next step, start with the CVD Statistics section if you need numbers, or the Members section if you want to find the heart foundation in a specific country. For comparison, the World Heart Federation World Heart Federation operates globally, while the European Society of Cardiology European Society of Cardiology is a professional medical society rather than a patient-and-foundation network.
How can my national heart foundation join EHN as a member?
To join the European Heart Network, contact EHN directly through its website and ask about membership for your national heart foundation or association. EHN describes its members as national heart foundations and associations committed to preventing cardiovascular disease in Europe, supporting patients, representing patient interests and funding research, so your organisation fits the profile it recruits.
What to prepare before you ask
- Your organisation's status: confirm you are a national-level heart foundation or association, since that is the membership category EHN describes.
- Your work in brief: a short summary of your prevention, patient-support, advocacy or research-funding activities, matching the roles EHN lists for members.
- A named contact: someone who can speak for the organisation in correspondence.
Practical next step
Write a short enquiry to EHN introducing your organisation, stating that you are a national heart foundation or association, and asking for the membership process and any criteria. Ask specifically whether EHN requires an existing member to nominate or support your application, and what documents it needs. If your foundation already works with a current EHN member, mention that connection; it can help the conversation start in the right place.
For context on how EHN presents its network and priorities, see European Heart Network. The World Heart Federation, the global umbrella body for heart foundations, also lists national members and may help you compare how membership works at different levels: World Heart Federation.
What cardiovascular disease statistics does EHN publish for Europe?
EHN publishes headline Europe-wide cardiovascular disease figures on its homepage and points readers to a dedicated statistics section for the fuller dataset. The homepage figures are:
- 3.9 million deaths from CVD in Europe per year
- 45% of all deaths in Europe are from CVD
- 210 billion annual cost of CVD to the EU economy (in euros)
- 85 million people living with CVD in Europe
The site's "European Cardiovascular Disease Statistics" section is the place to look for the underlying detail behind these numbers.
How to use this
If you need a single citation for scale, the 45% share of all deaths is the most striking figure for a general audience; the 210 billion euro cost is the one to use when arguing for prevention spending. For anything more granular — country breakdowns, trends over time, risk-factor prevalence — go to the statistics section rather than relying on the homepage summary, since the four headline numbers are presented without methodology or year labels there.
Reading the numbers with care
Treat these as advocacy-facing headline figures rather than a full epidemiological report. "Europe" and "EU" are used for different measures on the page, so check which geography a given number covers before quoting it alongside national data. For comparison, the World Health Organization's European region data at World Health Organization and the EU statistical office at European Commission publish their own series; differences between sources usually reflect region definitions and reporting years rather than disagreement about the underlying burden.
How does EHN influence EU policy on cardiovascular health?
EHN influences EU cardiovascular policy mainly through advocacy, not through legislation or funding of its own. It works on EU policy files that affect cardiovascular patients, coordinates national heart foundations and associations across Europe, and builds their capacity to make the same case in their home countries. Its stated focus areas are prevention of the main risk factors, patient interests, research networking and structured patient involvement in projects. The site also publishes European CVD statistics and campaigns, which give its policy arguments a shared evidence base and public visibility.
A concrete example of how this works: when the European Commission proposed a Council Recommendation on cardiovascular health checks, EHN publicly welcomed it as reflecting recommendations from European heart health stakeholders. That is the typical pattern—position papers, recommendations and member coordination feeding into a Commission proposal, rather than EHN drafting the rules itself.
What this means in practice
- For national heart foundations: EHN is a coordination and amplification channel. Members share positions, campaigns such as World Heart Day, and research through the EHN Research Platform, so national advocacy carries a European frame.
- For patient groups and researchers: the Patient Group and project work create routes into EU-funded research and policy consultation, where patient input is increasingly expected.
- For journalists and policy analysts: the statistics page is a practical starting point for figures on deaths, prevalence and economic cost, though the underlying numbers should be traced to their sources.
Limits to keep in mind
EHN is a network and advocacy body. It does not set EU law, and its influence depends on member engagement and on how receptive EU institutions are. Its framing is prevention- and patient-oriented, so readers looking for clinical treatment guidance or national reimbursement decisions will need other sources—national cardiology societies, for instance. For the EU institutional side, compare with European Commission health pages, and for the clinical and scientific perspective see European Society of Cardiology.
Next step: if you are preparing a briefing, read EHN's Strategic Plan 2023–2030 alongside its CVD statistics page, then check the Commission's proposal text to see which specific recommendations were taken up. That comparison shows influence more concretely than any general claim.
How can patients get involved in EHN's cardiovascular research projects?
The European Heart Network (EHN) involves patients mainly through its Patient Group and through structured patient involvement in projects, rather than through an open application portal described on its homepage. The page states that EHN "facilitates meaningful and structured patient involvement in projects to enable patients to be active partners in creating person-centred cardiovascular research and innovation," and that its Research Platform connects research-funding members with members of the EHN Patient Group.
Practical routes in
- Through a national member organisation. EHN's members are national heart foundations and associations that support patients and represent patient interests. A patient already connected to their country's heart foundation is best placed to be pointed toward EHN patient activities.
- Through the Patient Group. This is the channel the homepage names for patient input into research. Ask a member organisation or EHN directly how the group is composed and how patients are nominated.
- As a project partner or participant. EHN projects are where patient involvement is structured, so the realistic entry point is a specific project rather than a general membership.
What to expect, and what to prepare
Patient involvement in EU-level research usually means reviewing study materials, advising on outcomes that matter to patients, or sitting on advisory structures—not joining a lab. A short note covering your condition, country, languages and any prior patient-advocacy experience is a useful first step. Expect timelines set by project funding cycles, and expect representation to run through organisations rather than individuals acting alone.
For context on how patient interests are framed at European level, see European Society of Cardiology and European Patients' Forum.
Next step: contact your national heart foundation first and ask specifically about EHN Patient Group or project involvement; that is faster than approaching a Brussels-based network cold.
What campaigns does EHN run to raise awareness about heart disease and stroke?
The European Heart Network (EHN) runs awareness campaigns as one part of its wider advocacy work, but its homepage describes that work at a general level rather than listing individual campaigns. The page names "EHN Campaigns" as an activity area, saying EHN runs campaigns "to raise awareness and advocate for" cardiovascular health, and its latest-news section shows this in practice: a World Heart Day 2026 item describes EHN highlighting activities organised by its national members around World Heart Day and the first EU Screening Week.
What the page shows about campaign activity
- Awareness raising: named as an explicit campaign purpose, alongside advocacy.
- Member-led action: campaigns are presented through the work of EHN's members, described as national heart foundations and associations that prevent cardiovascular disease, support patients and fund research.
- Tied to EU policy: EHN's advocacy targets EU policy files affecting cardiovascular patients, and the news section welcomes a European Commission proposal on cardiovascular health checks as reflecting recommendations from European heart health stakeholders.
- Risk-factor focus: prevention work aims to reduce exposure to the main cardiovascular risk factors, with the stated goal of more years lived in good health.
A useful next step
If you want the specific campaigns—names, dates, materials you could share—go to the "EHN Campaigns" section of the site and its news pages, rather than relying on the homepage summary. For a concrete example: a workplace health coordinator planning an autumn heart-health drive could check EHN's campaign pages and the World Heart Day coverage to see which themes and member activities are current, then adapt the framing locally.
How this compares with other sources
EHN is a European umbrella network, so its campaigns lean toward policy audiences and coordinated member action across countries. For country-specific patient-facing campaigns, the national heart foundations listed as EHN members are the more direct source. For clinical guidance on stroke and heart disease, the European Society of Cardiology publishes guidelines, and the World Health Organization covers cardiovascular disease at global level—useful when you need statistics or policy context rather than campaign materials.
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