Implementing the EU Safe Hearts Plan: what can we learn from the cancer strategy?
17 April 2026
Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan reshaped prevention, screening and care. If implemented effectively, the Safe Hearts Plan could do the same for cardiovascular disease.
When Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan launched in 2021, it represented a rare moment of political consensus: an ambitious, well‑funded health programme designed to transform outcomes in prevention, early detection, treatment and survivorship.
Five years on, the results are promising. According to the European Parliamentary Research Service, more than 90% of the plan’s actions are completed or underway, and there has been significant progress in digital innovation, screening and research. Yet the same review also exposes the plan’s vulnerabilities: governance gaps, uneven prevention, and persistent inequalities between and within Member States.
An integrated vision for cardiovascular health
The Commission launched the Safe Hearts Plan in December 2025 to tackle cardiovascular disease (CVD), with crucial lessons learnt: CVD isn’t one condition, but multiple conditions influenced by a complex array of risk factors that include diabetes, chronic kidney disease and arrhythmias. These risk factors often occur together, leading to complex health needs and wider, system-level issues such as health inequalities and avoidable hospital admissions.
The Safe Hearts Plan puts early detection, screening, treatment and care centre stage, driven by digital innovation, research and a focus on tackling inequalities. This marks a bold shift from past policies, which emphasised lifestyle and primary prevention.
Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan has changed expectations of what EU‑level health action can achieve. But ambition must be matched by governance, equity, regulation and a relentless commitment to implementation.
Effective delivery is not guaranteed
The cancer plan’s vision elevated the disease as a top policy priority, sparking new national strategies and investments. Nevertheless, the implementation assessment highlights the reality that delays in prevention, fragmented governance and under-resourced actions threaten to stall progress. For the Safe Hearts Plan, the lesson is clear: accountability for implementation must be integrated from day one.
And while the cancer plan sometimes drifted on progress, the Safe Hearts Plan needs to set the pace with robust governance, transparent milestones and committed Member State ownership.
Stronger regulation can support effective prevention
The cancer plan set out bold ambitions on tobacco, alcohol and nutrition; recent evaluations show that progress in some of these areas has moved more slowly than hoped, often due to complex legislative processes and differing national contexts.
Tackling CVD will also involve addressing commercial determinants of health, including reformulation initiatives to reduce saturated fat, sugar and salt content of food products, and tobacco control. As seen in the cancer plan’s implementation experience, where voluntary schemes and slower regulatory progress sometimes limited the pace of change, evidence‑based rules can help sustain progress. These insights can support Safe Hearts in designing prevention policies that are both ambitious and feasible.
Equity, digital capacity and quality of life
The cancer plan has shown that a strong EU‑level initiative can improve equity and quality of life across health systems. Through the European Cancer Inequalities Registry (ECIR), the plan has exposed disparities in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship, which helps Member States understand where support is most needed.
Positive examples from across Europe offer inspiration for Safe Hearts as it seeks to strengthen equitable prevention and care for people living with cardiovascular disease.
As digital tools and platforms expanded under the cancer plan, many Member States moved quickly to harness data for planning and service delivery. Still, evaluations indicate that countries differ in their readiness to integrate these technologies fully: there are variations in workforce skills, data systems and technical infrastructure. These experiences offer constructive insights for the Safe Hearts Plan – digital innovation can be a major accelerator of equity, provided it is matched with investment in implementation and system capacity.
Positive examples from across Europe highlight what is achievable when equity, digital capability and workforce capacity align. Croatia’s national lung cancer screening programme – built around digital scheduling, AI‑supported imaging and GP‑led outreach – demonstrates how targeted models can reach underserved groups effectively. Estonia’s national cancer profile and datasets, supported through the ECIR, show that robust digital dashboards and routine data collection can improve care quality and equity. These models offer inspiration for Safe Hearts as it seeks to strengthen equitable prevention and care for people living with cardiovascular disease.
A chance to build Europe’s next great health success story
Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan has changed expectations of what EU‑level health action can achieve. But ambition must be matched by governance, equity, regulation and a relentless implementation. If the Safe Hearts Plan applies these lessons, it can deliver the change that people living with cardiovascular conditions so urgently require.
HPP, which acts as Secretariat to the Heart Failure Policy Network, was proud to contribute to the call for evidence preceding the Safe Heart Plan.