Global Heart Hub International Roundtable Discussion on Late, Missed and Misdiagnosis of Heart Disease in Women

Urgent global action is required to improve the screening, diagnosis and treatment journey for women with cardiovascular disease.

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Global Heart Hub hosted a patient-led roundtable on late, missed and misdiagnosis of heart disease in women, bringing together 27 participants from across 15 countries, including women with lived experience, patient organisation leaders, public health experts, researchers and clinicians.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women globally. Yet, CVD in women remains understudied, under-recognised, underdiagnosed, and undertreated.

This one-day international roundtable discussion, an initiative of Global Heart Hub, focused on the issues of under-representation of women in clinical trials, late, missed and misdiagnosis of heart disease in women, under-research of female-specific risk factors and heart conditions.

Four priority areas were identified by the roundtable participants, and these were healthcare system and medical education, research, patient & public engagement and awareness, policy change and public health.

These priority areas provide a roadmap for Global Heart Hub as it embarks on a journey to engage with relevant stakeholders, with the aim to improve the screening, diagnosis and treatment journey for women with cardiovascular disease.

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“Our needs, need to be addressed. Our voices, need to be heard. The time to act is now. The consensus paper is all about a blueprint, a map in itself. An actionable step that we can read and take back to our community, because it’s all about saving the lives of women through education but also empowering our community to act upon those facts. For far too long, we’ve known the statistics, we’ve known the issues. A global voice is more impactful.”

Hyvelle Ferguson-Davis, Founder, Heart Sistas

The Report focuses on four priority areas:

1) Healthcare system and medical education; 2) Research; 3) Patient & public engagement and awareness; 4) Policy change and public health.

A united CVD community is a powerful one. All stakeholders need to come together with a shared commitment to promote solutions to improve women’s cardiovascular health outcomes and achieve gender equity in healthcare.