Tuesday 8th September 2020
Next week is Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week, a week where patient organisations from around the world come together to raise awareness of the disease. This year, Awareness Week is focussed on #ListenToYourHeart, and we will be urging everyone to ask their doctor for a stethoscope check, the first step in diagnosing heart valve disease.
Due to restrictions caused by COVID-19, this year Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week is going digital. But far from restrict us, this new way of working has inspired and invigorated us. And the creativity I have seen from Heart Valve Voice, our patient advocates and patient organisations from across the world has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Heart Valve Voice is a community of people affected by heart valve disease, and that sense of community is in all of our work during Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week. That community is epitomised by #HVV2020 on September 17th, where leading clinicians, heart valve disease patients and policymakers will give presentations on topics from across the treatment pathway. This is a day for all patients and their families, and an opportunity to learn more, ask questions and come together with the heart valve disease community.
One of the founding principals of raising awareness is education, and during the week we will be taking to every digital platform at our disposal to inform and educate on the signs and symptoms of heart valve disease. Patients from across the UK will be telling their stories, and leading clinicians will be sharing their expertise, all intending to educate as many people as we can about this serious but treatable condition.
Events like Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week offer patient organisations around the world the opportunity to inspire others and grow. Listening to patients share their valve disease stories and seeing their hunger to help others by raising awareness is so inspirational. The louder we make our voice, the more we can attract others to join our community. That gives us a more significant voice and helps us save lives.
So, click here to find out how you can get involved in Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week and join us as we involve, inform and inspire. Together, we can improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment of heart valve disease and save lives.