Women & Heart Patient Network

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women – yet women continue to experience late, missed and misdiagnosis of heart disease – often compounded by fragmented care.

The Women & Heart Patient Network brings together patient organisations to advocate for action to be taken to correct disparities and improve the lives and wellbeing of women with cardiovascular disease, their families and their communities.

The Network is a platform for heart patient organisations to share their views, learn from each other’s best practice, unite on common advocacy goals and share resources.

Project Spotlight

Women’s Heart Health Action Agenda

Women’s cardiovascular health can be transformed, but only through coordinated, system-level action. Global Heart Hub’s Women’s Heart Health Action Agenda brings policy, systems, education, research and public awareness into a single, coherent structure for change.

The Women’s Heart Health Action Agenda was developed through a rigorous, inclusive and transparent co-creation process, shaped by lived experience and clinical expertise.

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Achievements to date:

IPEC2: Women’s Experiences with Cardiovascular Disease, A Patient-Led Qualitative Research Project collecting patient experience data from approximately 300 women in 8 countries. IPEC2 will include women with cardiovascular conditions such as ASCVD, elevated LDL-C, elevated LP(a), heart valve disease and cardiomyopathy. Findings to be released soon!
With insights gathered from the Unite Summit, Global Heart Hub and partners launched the Women’s Heart Health Action Agenda, bringing policy, systems, education, research and public awareness into a single, coherent structure for change.
Global Heart Hub’s 5^thUnite Annual Summit focused on women’s cardiovascular health with expert speakers from around the world including patients with lived experience, clinicians, policy makers and key opinion leaders.
Global Heart Hub launches a pilot awareness campaign “Her Final Search” with Croí Heart & Stroke Charity (Ireland), in partnership with Weber Shandwick. The campaign used a series of powerful videos to highlight how women can experience the symptoms of a heart attack differently to men. Equally, the campaign aimed to raise awareness that heart disease is not just a man’s disease.
Global Heart Hub International Roundtable Discussion on Late, Missed and Misdiagnosis of Heart Disease in Women brought together 27 participants from 15 countries to address late, missed, and misdiagnosis of heart disease in women.
The Women & Heart Working Group was formed in 2021 to bring together patient organisations to develop a joint declaration, calling for urgent action on Women & Heart Disease across the world.

About the Network:

The Women & Heart Working Group was formed in 2021 to bring together patient organisations to develop a joint Declaration, calling for urgent action on Women & Heart Disease across the world.

Our Mission:

The Patient Network's mission is to identify and bring together patient-led organisations focussed on women and heart across the world, creating a global alliance and common patient voice. The Women & Heart Patient Network advocates for action to eliminate disparities in cardiovascular care and improve outcomes for women living with cardiovascular disease (CVD), their families, and their communities. It is a platform for heart patient organisations to share their views, learn from each other's best practice, unite on common advocacy goals, and share resources. It also creates a space for collective action across the care continuum− from awareness through equitable access to early detection, diagnosis, treatment, optimal management and supportive services− with the aim of improving understanding of CVD in women amongst patients, caregivers and healthcare providers, and ensuring the best possible outcomes for women living with heart conditions.