EFPIA对心血管健康检查的立场

May 2026 WHAT IS A HEALTH CHECK? A health check is aroutine appointmentwith a primary care provider where key aspects of heart andmetabolic health (e.g. blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and weight) are reviewed. The aim istodetect early signs of potential health risks, and to guidetimely prevention or treatment.If any ofthe results are outside of the recommended range, the healthcare provider will suggest a clear plan toaddress them, which may include lifestyle changes, treatment and follow-up care. Health checks can be implemented as part of population wide programmes (like Greece’s Prolamvano),opportunistic screening (as part of interactions between the citizen and the health system) and targetedscreening programmes. Why cardiovascular health checks: The case for EU action Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which include heart disease and stroke, remain the leading public healthchallenge in the European Union (EU). They account for approximately 1.7 million deaths each year, affectaround 62 million people, and generate economic costs exceeding EUR 282 billion annually. Early detection and prevention should be viewed as long term investments in health system sustainability.Strong evidence shows that effective control of major modifiable cardiovascular risk factors - includinghypertension, elevated LDL cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and obesity - substantially reduces myocardialinfarction, stroke, and cardiovascular mortality, while delayed detection is associated with acute events andhospitalisations that drive healthcare costs across Europe [1] [2] [3] To effectively address this pressing burden, in December 2025 the European Commission launched thefirst ever EU Cardiovascular Health Plan - the Safe Hearts Plan. EFPIA welcomes the Plan and considers itan important step towards addressing CVDs in a comprehensive and structured manner, by establishing amore preventive life-course approach to cardiovascular health across the EU. The Commission identifies prevention and early detection as underused levers in tackling CVDs, notingthat risk factors and interconnected diseases (e.g., high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity,arrhythmias) often remain undiagnosed and untreated. It further notes that current EU approaches arefragmented and lack a common protocol, leading not only to limited data comparability across MemberStates but also to variation in clinical care pathways, treatment standards, and follow up, which constrainsscalability and equitable implementation. EFPIA supports the Commission’s plan to propose aCouncil Recommendation on health checks forcardiovascular diseasesin 2026 and to pilot and launch anEU protocol on health checksto support acommon approach for Member States in the development and implementation of national health checks.These initiatives will be supported by “Know Your Numbers” awareness campaigns and mobile andcommunity-based outreach approaches to increase coverage. TheSafe Hearts Plan defines EU-level ambitions to be achieved by 2035for annual professionalmeasurement of key cardiovascular risk factors in the population •Blood pressure:At least 75% of people aged 25–64 and 90% of those aged 65 and over measured once ayear [4].•Cholesterol:At least 65% of people aged 25–64 and 80% of those aged 65 and over measured once a year[5].•Blood sugar: At least 65% of people aged 25–64 and 80% of those aged 65 and over measured once a year[6]. EFPIA welcomes the inclusion of EU-level targets and believes that even greater ambition should beencouraged at national level. Achieving these objectives will require well-designed health checks andscreening protocols. Member States should implement policies tailored to their national contexts, with theaim of reducing premature cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. The sections below outline EFPIA’s position and recommendations on cardiovascular health checks to helpensure that screening approaches across EU Member States are effective, harmonised, equitable, andactionable. 2 “Know Your Numbers by 35”: setting the baseline (core “numbers”) 2.1 Comprehensive baseline assessment at primary level A Council Recommendation should include a clear commitment that every person receives acomprehensive cardiometabolic risk assessment by age 35(“Know Your Numbers by 35”), with regularreassessment thereafter. This baseline cardiometabolic risk assessment should be conducted atprimary care level and shouldcover the full set of routinely assessed cardiovascular and cardiometabolic parameters, enabling earlierdetection and prevention across the life course. At a minimum, the baseline assessment should include: •Lipid profile, including LDL cholesterol (LDL-C).•Blood pressuremeasurement according to proper measurement standards, with heart rate recorded at thetime of measurement and a check for heart rhythm.•Blood glucoseor HbA1c to enable detection of both pre-diabetes and diabetes, and support integratedcardiometabolic risk