Cardiology Foundation (D.R.H., W.A.Z.), European Heart Network (S.L., H.S.), and European Society of

Worldwide, the aging population, globalization, rapidurbanization, and population growth have fundamen-tally changed disease patterns. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), of which cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for nearly half, have overtaken communicable diseases as the world’s major disease burden. CVD remains the No. 1 global cause of death, accounting for 17.3 million deaths per year, a number that is expected to grow to 23.6 million by 2030. Increasingly, the populations affected are those in low- and middle-income countries, where 80 % of these deaths occur, usually at younger ages than in higher-income countries, and where the human and financial resources to address them are most limited.1 The epidemiological transition occurring is exacerbated by the lack of vital investment in sustainable health policies to address and curtail the risk factors associated with CVD an