The collateral damage of COVID-19 on CVD
With increasing evidence of the significant impact of COVID-19 on CVD, we have put forward a set of calls to action to save lives and reduce suffering for CVD patients.
Read the ESC Advocacy Statement “The collateral damage of COVID-19: cardiovascular disease, the next pandemic wave”, which builds on a survey conducted by the ESC during the pandemic.

The ticking time bomb: CVD
ESC President, Professor Barbara Casadei, proposed options to support patients and healthcare systems to avoid the ticking time bomb of CVD at an online debate organised by EU’s Think Tank Friends of Europe. If you missed it, watch it here.

Slashing the red tape around clinical trials
Professor Martin Landray reiterated the ESC’s call for an urgent and radical revision of the international standards for the design and conduct of clinical trials at a European Medicines Agency workshop on clinical trials on 3 June. Take this survey proposed by the Good Clinical Trials Collaborative and help to improve practice in running randomised clinical trials. 

Preparing for new EU rules on medical devices
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of new EU Regulation on medical devices has been pushed back of one year to May 2021. Read the manuscript by ESC Regulatory Affairs Chair, Professor Alan Fraser, et al in the European Heart Journal to learn about important changes the new regulation will bring. 

ESC Advocacy on CVD and cancer 
As the European Commission prepares the EU Cancer Beating Plan , ESC Advocacy has highlighted the importance of addressing CVD as a cancer complication and comorbidity. 
Working closely with the ESC Council on Cardio-Oncology we issued a statement and responded to two European Commission consultations in view of shaping the plan. For more information on our activities on CVD and Cancer see here. 

Advocacy and interventional cardiology
EAPCI Past President, Professor Andreas Baumbach, elaborates on how advocacy has contributed to the EAPCI’s mission of “reducing the burden of CVD by percutaneous cardiovascular interventions”.  Reducing disparities in access to  procedures with innovative technologies is highlighted as the key aim of these efforts. Read the article. 

ESC joins EU eHealth expert group
We are pround to announce that the ESC has been approved as a member of the new EU eHealth Stakeholder Group. We look forward to working with the group to shape EU digital health policy in support of CVD prevention and management. 
Information about our advocacy work on digital health is available here. 

Making the case for CVD research
The ESC has continued to advocate for CVD to be recognised as a priority in the forthcoming EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation for 2021-27. ESC Advocacy Chair, Professor Lina Badimon, outlines our advocacy efforts in this article in Open Access Government.  

ESC engagement in Horizon2020
For the first time, the ESC has applied for EU funding as coordinator of two projects, in addition to joining other applications as a project partner. As coordinator, the ESC would become accountable to the European Commission for the management of the project. 
The outcome of these applications will be known in the Autumn. For more information, contact Christina Dimopoulou.

ESC welcomes new EU4Health programme
In response to the weaknesses of healthcare systems that the COVID-19 outbreak has brought to light, the European Commission has put forward proposals for a new ambitious standalone EU health programme, worth €9.4bn for 2021-27. 
 ESC Advocacy will now seek to influence the direction of the EU4Health programme making the case for a focus on tackling the burden of CVD.