Cardiovascular health: MEPs call on EU to boost disease prevention 

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament.

Cardiovascular health: MEPs call on EU to booAddress key risk factors such as smoking, harmful alcohol consumption, unhealthy diets 

Improve nutrition labelling and assessment of “ultra-processed foods”  

Ensure early detection and affordable treatments 

Europe’s number one killer: 1.7 million die each year due to cardiovascular diseases 

On Wednesday, Parliament’s Public Health Committee adopted its response to the EU’s first ever cardiovascular health plan.

The report, which reacts to the “Safe Hearts Plan”, calls for acoordinated approach to preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and their interconnected risk factors and comorbidities, including all major non-communicable diseases including diabetes, hypertension, cancer, chronic kidney disease, obesity and many others.

Tackling key risk factors

MEPs in the Public Health Committee want strong regulatory measures to reduce the affordability, access, consumption, and appeal of tobacco and nicotine products and smoking devices, including novel and emerging nicotine and tobacco products. They specify that these new products should be included in the scope of the Tobacco Products Directive and call, not least, for social media advertising to be explicitly covered by the Tobacco Advertising and Sponsorship Directive.

The report calls on EU countries to implement education and communication campaigns on the cardiovascular and other health risks associated with harmful alcohol consumption, particularly at levels exceeding scientifically established health recommendations.

The MEPs highlight the importance of promoting balanced diets, such as the Mediterranean and Nordic diets, as well as plant-based diets and certain diets based on organic food, and physical activity. They call for improved front-of-pack nutrition labelling in line with nutritional recommendations and better health impact assessments of the consumption of “ultra-processed foods” and energy drinks.

Early detection, improved care, preparedness and response

The MEPs strongly support the introduction of cardiovascular health checks, especially for individuals with at least one risk factor and those with a family history of premature CVDs.

They also want people living with CVDs to have timely and affordable access to high-quality care. Stronger measures at EU and national level should be taken to reduce inequalities linked to socio-economic status (income, employment, housing conditions), gender, age, access to healthcare services and environmental exposure.

The report advocates strongly for wider deployment of and access to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) public awareness programmes and mandatory CPR training in schools and workplaces.

Quote

Rapporteur Romana Jerković (S&D, HR) said: “For too long, Europe has focused on paying for the consequences of cardiovascular disease instead of addressing its causes. This report marks a shift towards prevention. It calls for tougher and more progressive action on the commercial drivers of poor health, from the marketing of novel nicotine products to children to the lack of transparency around alcohol and unhealthy foods. If we are serious about reducing Europe’s biggest killer, we need public health policies driven by evidence, not by commercial interests.”

Next steps

The own-initiative report was adopted by 38 votes in favour, 2 against, and with 1 abstention. It is expected that Parliament as a whole will vote on the report during its September 2026 plenary session.

Background

In December 2025, the Commission unveiled the first ever EU strategy aimed at tackling cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the “Safe Hearts Plan”. CVDs are the leading cause of mortality in the EU, accounting for approximately 1.7 million deaths each year. Sixty-two million people are living with the burden of CVDs in the EU, and close to 13 million new cases of CVDs occur every year. An estimated 80% of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, is preventable.st disease prevention