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PCR Podium

Monday 22nd May 2017

Wil Woan Chief Executive of Heart Valve Voice UK, announced the Five ‘A’ Action Plan to delegates from across Europe at EuroPCR Conference

Heart Valve Voice UK has joined forces with Cuore Italia – Heart Valve Voice, and the Dutch online platform Hart.volgers to create a European initiative to help improve the lives of those with heart valve disease. They plan to implement a Five ‘A’ patient action plan together to build a strong unified voice in Europe and reach out to clinicians and policy makers on a European scale.

The vast majority of Europeans are not aware of or concerned about heart valve problems and yet the prevalence of the disease is set to increase due to an ageing population.

At the recent EuroPCR Conference in Paris, Wil Woan Chief Executive of Heart Valve Voice UK, announced the Five ‘A’ Action Plan to delegates from across Europe and asked them to pledge their support to the plan. It was thrilling to welcome Prof. Alain Cribier, world-renowned pioneer of TAVI, to the pledge board and get his support towards the collaboration. (see the video here)

Five ‘A’ action plan

In order to raise awareness of symptoms, improve diagnosis and access to treatment the following actions are needed:

Awareness:
Know more about heart valve disease and its consequences for patients and society

Alertness:
Become educated and understand when to ask the doctor to listen to the heart with a stethoscope

Adapt a Carepath:
Understand the need for early diagnosis, arrange regular stethoscope and ECG checks for the elderly

Action:
Timely referral to a heart centre to ensure all possible treatment options to get a new heart valve are available

Access:
Educate policy-makers and healthcare professionals to create timely access to good treatment options

Watch our news section for more updates as the initiative develops….