world-heart-federation.org

The World Heart Federation (WHF) is a global organization working to reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and improve heart health worldwide. It describes itself as leading the global fight against CVD, which it identifies as the world's biggest killer, and it unites heart health experts, policymakers, and advocates around that mission. If you want to understand who is behind global heart-health advocacy, where major CVD campaigns and reports come from, or how to plug into the international heart community, this is the organization to know.

Mission and positioning

WHF frames its work around a single goal: heart health for all. Its stated approach has three visible pillars, each presented on its site:

• Heart Health — public-facing education and awareness about cardiovascular disease, built on the message that CVD "doesn't have to be" the world's biggest killer.
• Our Impact — championing change and policies grounded in science to secure access to prevention, treatment, and care.
• WHF Community — convening a global heart community of 200+ members to share knowledge and implement evidence.

The organization positions itself at the intersection of science, policy, and advocacy rather than as a direct provider of clinical care.

The scale of the problem it addresses

WHF's own figures give the context for its work:

These numbers are the reason the organization frames CVD as the world's leading cause of death and centers its strategy on prevention, treatment, and care access.

Key programmes and initiatives

WHF runs and coordinates several named efforts. The main ones visible on its site:

• World Heart Day (29 September 2026) — its flagship awareness campaign. The 2026 theme is "Heart disease can hide in plain sight: don't miss a beat." WHF invites participation by downloading free digital assets, sharing a heart health story, and taking a World Heart Day quiz.
• World Heart Vision 2030 — a shared global vision to strengthen collaboration with key sectors and policymakers.
• World Heart Observatory — described as the first global data hub for cardiovascular disease.
• World Heart Report 2026 — its annual flagship report; the 2026 edition focuses on congenital heart disease.
• World Congress of Cardiology 2026 — the global cardiovascular community meets in Rio de Janeiro from 8–10 October.
• 2nd World Congress on Rheumatic Heart Disease — bringing together experts, advocates, and people living with RHD in Perth, Western Australia.
• World Heart Summit — an international event at the intersection of policy, advocacy, science, and innovation.
• Roadmap on cardiac rehabilitation — a pathway to lifelong cardiovascular health.
• Podcast — recent episode covers lipid guidelines and global cardiovascular prevention.

There is also a Geneva-based World Heart Day celebration tied to a football match (Servette FC vs Olympique Lyonnais, UEFA Women's Championship League, 23 September 2026, Stade de Genève), reflecting the organization's use of sport and public events in its campaigning.

Who it is for

WHF's audience is broad but specific in function:

• Health professionals and researchers — through congresses, reports, and the Observatory.
• Policymakers and advocates — through Vision 2030, the Summit, and science-grounded policy work.
• Member organizations — the 200+ member community that shares knowledge and implements evidence.
• The general public — through World Heart Day assets, quizzes, and heart health storytelling.

How to engage

The site's primary calls to action are to "Join Us" / "Join our mission" and to subscribe for updates via its CRM. If you are looking for campaign materials, the World Heart Day page offers free digital assets; if you want data, the Observatory and annual report are the entry points; if you want to attend, the Congress and Summit pages carry the event details.

The World Heart Federation (WHF) is a global organization working to reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD), which it describes as the world's biggest killer and the cause of 20 million deaths each year. If you want to get involved, there are two main paths: subscribing to updates through the WHF website, or joining the broader WHF Community, which convenes a global network of 200+ Members to share knowledge and implement evidence. The right path depends on whether you are an individual looking for news and ways to participate, or an organization seeking a formal membership role.

What the WHF Community Is

According to the WHF website, the WHF Community brings together more than 200 Members from the global heart community. Its stated purpose is to share knowledge and implement evidence in the fight against cardiovascular disease.

WHF positions itself as uniting "a global community of heart health experts, policymakers, and advocates" to reduce CVD deaths and improve heart health everywhere. This framing matters if you are deciding whether to engage: the community is oriented around professional and organizational collaboration, not just public awareness.

Ways to Get Involved

1. Subscribe to WHF Updates

The website offers a subscription channel for updates. The subscription link appears on the site as "Subscribe" and points to a WHF CRM page (crm.world-heart-federation.org/content/subscribe-our-updates).

• Input: your contact details via the subscription form.
• Action: submit the form.
• Expected result: you receive WHF updates, which the site describes as a way to stay informed about its mission and activities.

Note that the site lists "subscribe" as a pricing-related signal, but no payment platform or fee is indicated in the available information. Do not assume the subscription is free or paid based on this alone — check the subscription page directly for current terms.

2. Join the WHF Community

The site's "Join Us" call to action sits alongside the WHF Community section, which describes convening 200+ Members. If you represent an organization, this is the more substantive route: membership implies participation in knowledge-sharing and evidence implementation rather than passive news consumption.

The available page evidence does not detail membership criteria, fees, or application steps. To proceed, use the "Join Us" link on the WHF homepage and follow the instructions there.

3. Participate in World Heart Day

World Heart Day is marked on 29 September 2026 under the theme "Heart disease can hide in plain sight: don't miss a beat." WHF invites participation through:

• Downloading free digital assets
• Sharing your heart health story
• Taking part in the World Heart Day quiz

This is the lowest-barrier way for individuals to engage, and it requires no membership.

4. Support the Mission

WHF states that support can help prevent millions of premature deaths due to CVD. The site's "Join our mission" call to action is the entry point for those who want to contribute to the cause rather than join a formal network.

Events and Resources That Come With Engagement

If you join or follow WHF, these are the kinds of activities you would be connecting to:

Choosing Your Path

• If you are an individual who wants news, campaign materials, and a way to take part: start with the subscription and World Heart Day participation.
• If you represent an organization working in heart health, policy, or advocacy: the WHF Community membership is the relevant route, given its 200+ Member network and evidence-implementation focus.
• If you want to support financially or campaign-wise: use the "Join our mission" pathway.

The site does not publish membership fees, eligibility rules, or a step-by-step application process in the material available here. Treat the homepage "Join Us" and "Subscribe" links as the starting points and confirm current requirements there before committing.

World Heart Vision 2030 is the World Heart Federation's shared global framework for strengthening collaboration with key sectors and policymakers, aimed at reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths and improving heart health everywhere. It sits within WHF's broader mission to achieve heart health for all, and is relevant to anyone who wants to understand how the organization frames its long-term goals, partnerships, and advocacy priorities.

The problem Vision 2030 responds to

WHF states that cardiovascular disease is the world's biggest killer and the world's leading cause of death, citing two figures on its site:

• 20 million deaths every year from CVD
• 33% of all deaths are from CVD

Vision 2030 is positioned as the response to that scale of burden — a shared vision rather than a single program or campaign.

What the vision actually covers

Based on WHF's own description, Vision 2030 works along three connected lines:

1. A shared global vision

It is described as "a shared global vision to strengthen collaboration with key sectors and policymakers." The emphasis is on coordination — not a WHF-only plan, but a framework others are invited into.

2. Cross-sector collaboration

The named collaborators are heart health experts, policymakers, and advocates, plus "key sectors" outside health. This reflects the view that CVD reduction depends on policy, science, and advocacy working together, not clinical care alone.

3. Policy and systems change

WHF's impact work is framed as "championing change and policies grounded in science to secure access to prevention, treatment and care." Vision 2030 is the long-range expression of that approach.

How it connects to WHF's wider mission

Vision 2030 is one layer of a larger structure. WHF's stated mission is "to achieve heart health for all," and it pursues this by uniting a global community of experts, policymakers, and advocates. Vision 2030 supplies the long-term direction; the community and events supply the mechanism.

Where Vision 2030 shows up in practice

WHF's site links Vision 2030 alongside several concrete outputs, which is a useful way to see the vision translated into activity:

• World Heart Observatory — described as the first global data hub for cardiovascular disease, supporting evidence-based advocacy.
• World Heart Report 2026 — the annual flagship report, with the 2026 edition focused on congenital heart disease.
• World Heart Summit — an international event at the intersection of policy, advocacy, science, and innovation.
• Roadmap on cardiac rehabilitation — framed as a pathway to lifelong cardiovascular health.
• 2nd World Congress on Rheumatic Heart Disease — bringing together experts, advocates, and people living with RHD in Perth, Western Australia.

Who Vision 2030 is for

The framework is aimed at people who can act on CVD at scale or influence those who do:

• Policymakers looking for a science-grounded basis for prevention and care access.
• Heart health experts and clinicians who want to connect their work to global advocacy.
• Advocates and community organizations seeking a shared agenda to align with.
• Organizations considering joining the WHF community of 200+ Members.

If your interest is personal heart health information rather than global policy, Vision 2030 is context rather than a direct resource — the Heart Health section of the site is the more relevant entry point.

How to engage with it

WHF's site offers several starting points rather than a single sign-up for Vision 2030 itself:

1. Read the vision — the World Heart Vision 2030 page sets out the collaboration and policy framing.
2. Explore the evidence base — the World Heart Observatory and World Heart Report 2026 provide the data and analysis behind the advocacy.
3. Join the community — WHF convenes 200+ Members to share knowledge and implement evidence.
4. Take part in World Heart Day — 29 September 2026, with free digital assets, story sharing, and a heart health quiz.
5. Subscribe for updates — WHF offers an updates subscription via its CRM at crm.world-heart-federation.org.

Common points of confusion

• Vision 2030 is not a funding program or grant scheme based on the site's description; it is a collaboration and advocacy framework.
• It is not the same as World Heart Day. World Heart Day is a dated campaign (29 September 2026); Vision 2030 is the ongoing strategic frame.
• The 20 million and 33% figures are WHF's stated global CVD burden statistics, used to justify the vision's urgency — they are not targets attributed to Vision 2030 itself on the pages reviewed.

For the most current details on Vision 2030, its partners, and any associated commitments, the World Heart Federation's own site remains the authoritative source.

World Heart Day is an annual awareness campaign held on 29 September, led by the World Heart Federation (WHF). The next edition is 29 September 2026, under the theme "Heart disease can hide in plain sight: don't miss a beat." Anyone can take part — you don't need a medical background or membership. The main routes in are downloading free digital assets, sharing a heart health story, and taking the World Heart Day quiz.

What World Heart Day is for

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the world's leading cause of death, killing 20 million people each year and accounting for 33% of all deaths, according to WHF. World Heart Day exists to raise awareness of that toll and push prevention, screening and care up the agenda.

It sits inside WHF's wider World Heart Vision 2030, which aims to reduce CVD deaths and improve heart health globally by uniting heart health experts, policymakers and advocates.

How to get involved

WHF lists three starting points for individuals:

• Download the free digital assets — campaign materials you can use and share in your own channels.
• Share your heart health story — personal accounts are used to put a human face on CVD risk and prevention.
• Take the World Heart Day quiz — a short way to test and spread awareness of heart health.

WHF frames these as a way to "join our mission," and its stated goal is that support can help prevent millions of premature deaths from CVD.

If you want to go further

Beyond the individual actions above, WHF runs a global community of 200+ member organisations that share knowledge and implement evidence-based programmes. If you represent an organisation rather than acting as an individual, that community is the relevant entry point.

There are also in-person events tied to the campaign. For 2026, WHF lists a World Heart Day – Geneva Celebration on 23 September 2026 at Stade de Genève, built around the fixture Servette FC vs Olympique Lyonnais in the UEFA Women's Championship League, under the banner "Football For Healthier Hearts."

Related WHF work worth knowing

If World Heart Day is your entry point, these are the adjacent activities WHF points to:

WHF also publishes a podcast; a recent episode covers lipid guidelines and global cardiovascular prevention.

Practical notes

• Date to remember: 29 September each year; the 2026 campaign is already announced.
• Cost: the campaign assets are described as free digital downloads. WHF's site also offers a separate email updates subscription — that is a mailing list, not a requirement for taking part in World Heart Day.
• Language: WHF's site is published in English (en-GB), so campaign materials are likely English-first; check the asset pack itself if you need another language.
• Timing: if you want to run something locally, the Geneva event is on 23 September, slightly ahead of the official 29 September date — so early-to-mid September is a reasonable window to prepare.

The simplest first step is to download the digital assets and take the quiz; both are designed for people with no prior involvement in CVD advocacy.

The World Heart Federation (WHF) publishes an annual flagship report, maintains a global cardiovascular data hub, and convenes several international congresses and summits. Its main recurring outputs are the World Heart Report (2026 edition focused on congenital heart disease), the World Heart Observatory (described as the first global data hub for cardiovascular disease), the World Congress of Cardiology 2026 (8–10 October, Rio de Janeiro), and additional events and resources including a rheumatic heart disease congress, a cardiac rehabilitation roadmap, the World Heart Summit, and a podcast. These are the entry points to check if you need WHF data, reports, or event information.

Reports and Data

World Heart Report 2026

WHF describes this as its flagship report, published annually, with the 2026 edition focusing on congenital heart disease. The site provides a "View report" link from the homepage. If you need WHF's headline annual analysis, this is the primary document to start with.

World Heart Observatory

Positioned as "the first global data hub for cardiovascular disease." Use this if you need global CVD data rather than a single narrative report. The homepage links to it under "Learn more."

Context figures WHF cites

The homepage states:

• CVD kills 20 million people each year
• CVD accounts for 33% of all deaths

These are the framing statistics WHF uses across its materials, useful for citing the organisation's own position.

Events

The World Heart Summit is described as an international event at the intersection of policy, advocacy, science, and innovation.

Other Resources

• Roadmap on cardiac rehabilitation — described as "a pathway to lifelong cardiovascular health."
• Podcast — a recent episode covers "Lipid Guidelines and Global Cardiovascular Prevention."
• World Heart Vision 2030 — a shared global vision to strengthen collaboration with key sectors and policymakers.
• Latest news — WHF publishes news items, e.g. an October 2, 2026 item from WHF Communications on strengthening cardiovascular care.

How to Access These

The homepage links directly to each item ("View report," "Learn more," "Find more"). WHF also offers a Subscribe option at crm.world-heart-federation.org/content/subscribe-our-updates for updates. The site does not state whether reports or event registration carry a fee, so check the individual pages before assuming free access.

Choosing What Fits Your Need

• Need annual statistics and analysis → World Heart Report 2026.
• Need to query or download global CVD data → World Heart Observatory.
• Need to attend or present at a major congress → World Congress of Cardiology 2026 (Rio de Janeiro, October).
• Work on rheumatic heart disease specifically → 2nd World Congress on Rheumatic Heart Disease (Perth).
• Policy or advocacy focus → World Heart Summit.
• Public campaign or community involvement → World Heart Day, 29 September 2026.