What is your best memory of EAPC?
My best memory has to do with the creation in 2004, with the late Joep Perk, of the European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR), renamed in 2016 the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC). Using the experience and expertise from two ESC Working Groups, we were able to join efforts, and by integrating epidemiology and prevention into rehabilitation and exercise physiology a new association was created. The history of all this has been published in the EJPC 2015; 22: 1340-45 and in the EJPC 2022; 29: 1301-08, and explains the good memory that I have on this endeavour.
What is the biggest accomplishment that EAPC has brought to the cardiology community?
The EAPC has brought a lot to preventive medicine but in my view one of the most important achievements was the support given to the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (EJPC) – previously known as the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.
Through sustained editorial leadership the journal has been very successful in addressing causes and prevention of cardiovascular disease as well as cardiovascular rehabilitation, exercise physiology and sports cardiology. The journal, with an impact factor of 8.3 (in 2022), now has a leading role in preventive medicine at the global level.
This accomplishment has been of crucial importance for the Association, for the European Society of Cardiology and for preventive cardiology in general.
In your opinion, what should EAPC accomplish in the next two decades?
One of the strengths of the EAPC is its multidisciplinary structure which is needed for a comprehensive approach to preventive cardiology. This advantage can be utilised by integrating a wide variety of professional expertise coming from epidemiology, population science, exercise physiology, rehabilitation and sports cardiology.
The EAPC should continue to integrate prevention in different disciplines of clinical cardiology including primordial, primary and secondary prevention of various cardiovascular diseases; this should be done at different levels such as the community as a whole, primary care settings and specialised cardiology units at the secondary and tertiary level.
There is a continuous need for observational and intervention studies addressing remaining questions and hypotheses in the field of preventive cardiology, through the EAPC performant networks, which in the past have been able to address these challenges.
The implementation of existing knowledge is another issue that needs continuous efforts that can be supported by the EAPC through consensus statements, webinars, and training programmes, not only for healthcare professionals but also involving the patients and the public. This should be done in collaboration with other scientific and patient organisations at the national and international level.
The EAPC should also adapt to the rapidly changing methods in biomedical research, in education, and in contemporary technology, to improve the efficiency of its efforts to prevent CVD both at the community and individual levels.
Note: The content of this article reflects the personal opinion of the author/s and is not necessarily the official position of the European Society of Cardiology.
Our mission: To reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.