A narrative review highlights that despite a steady decrease in cardiovascular disease burden in Central and Eastern Europe, significant East-West disparities and challenges in prevention remain.
There is an urgent need to strengthen epidemiological surveillance and implement comprehensive, equity-oriented cardiovascular disease prevention strategies in Central and Eastern Europe.
Objectives: The paper aims to identify the priorities for cardiovascular health promotion research in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the region with the highest cardiovascular diseases (CVD) burden in the world. Methods: This narrative review covered peer-reviewed publications and online databases using a nonsystematic purposive approach. Results: In despite of a steady decrease in CVD burden in the region, the East-West disparities are still significant. There is minimal continuity in the past and current CVD prevention efforts in the region. Many challenges still exist, including an opportunity gap in research funding, surveillance and population-based preventive interventions. A comprehensive approach focusing on multisectoral cooperation, quality and accessibility of healthcare and equity-oriented public policies and supported by well-designed epidemiologic studies is needed to overcome these challenges. Conclusion: The current level of effort is not adequate to address the magnitude of the CVD epidemic in CEE. It is imperative to strengthen the epidemiological base concerning cardiovascular health in the region, to foster surveillance and progress in implementation of CVD preventive strategies in the most affected populations of Europe.
Movsisyan et al. (Wed,) conducted a review in Cardiovascular diseases. A narrative review highlights that despite a steady decrease in cardiovascular disease burden in Central and Eastern Europe, significant East-West disparities and challenges in prevention remain.