The first patient-led global manifesto calling for early detection and diagnosis of cardiovascular disease is available now, and Heart Valve Voice Canada was delighted to contribute!

The report Heart Valve Disease: Working together to create a better patient journey commissioned by Heart Valve Voice Canada and written by The Health Policy Partnership provides a comprehensive view of the entire heart valve disease patient journey from first detection to diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment, identifying gaps and their impacts. This report was developed under the guidance of a multidisciplinary advisory council, whose members included people with lived experience and healthcare professionals engaged in heart valve disease in Canada. The patient perspective was the common thread throughout this report.

This global roadmap, to which Heart Valve Voice Canada is a contributor, is designed to support patient organizations and advocates who wish to implement shared decision-making for people facing heart valve disease treatment options.

We are pleased to announce Hugh MacPhie as the new Heart Valve Voice Canada Chair. Having joined the board in 2022 Hugh will build on the board’s mission to grow it's reach and impact.

In an exciting new partnership, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, Heart Valve Voice Canada, and MediSystem Pharmacy are teaming up to put a spotlight on heart valve disease and improve early detection for those most at risk.

As we work towards our mission to improve the health and quality of life for people living with heart disease, a key part of our action plan involves finding the right partners to drive our patient advocacy forward. Our Heart Valve Voice Canada Board of Directors is the heartbeat of our organization and we are continually looking for advocates who will help us empower people and save lives. We are honoured whenever someone volunteers their skillset and time to our mission, and we are happy to announce a few new additions to our team.

Packing the right items and being prepared for your hospital stay can remove some of the stress of your upcoming treatment. Anticipating what you will need when you come home can also help you focus on your recovery and support your journey back to an active life.

Heart valve disease patients who live in Saskatchewan and are candidates for a transcatheter mitral valve repair procedure, can now get the procedure done in their home province, avoiding personal out-of-province travel costs, health risks, and accompanying stress.

Early screening of heart valve disease saves public health care systems resources, but prevalent ageism delays diagnosis, limits care, and leads to avoidable costs and impacts on people’s lives.

All MPPs and staff at Queen’s Park in Toronto were invited to participate in the #ListenToYourHeart Challenge reception. MPP Rudy Cuzzetto introduced Bill 66, The Heart Valve Disease Awareness Act, proclaiming February 22nd as Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day in Ontario. During the reception, the landmark report, Heart Valve Disease: Working together to improve the patient journey was shared with key decision makers. More than 90 policy makers and staff participated and showed their support.

Focusing on healthy living is important for everyone, but it’s particularly important for someone who has been diagnosed with heart valve disease. Healthy living includes managing key risk factors for your heart health like not smoking, maintaining a healthy blood pressure measurement, exercising, keeping a healthy weight, and managing your blood cholesterol. There is a lot you can do to control these risk factors for your heart health.

Read this National Post story to find out why Dave, a heart valve disease patient, says you shouldn’t dismiss symptoms like feeling, breathlessness, dizziness or fatigue as regular signs of aging.

The Institute for Health Economics (IHE) has published a report which provides the results of a national roundtable convened in November 2021 to identify the necessary components for a national strategy to address heart valve disease. Heart Valve Disease is on the rise, affecting millions of people worldwide. It can be fatal if untreated but is increasingly treatable with early detection.

Not Another Minute should go by with Canadians not being aware of the risk factors of heart disease, especially considering nine in ten Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke. The stats are sobering, but in this age of information we have opportunities to increase awareness of the risk factors and steps one can take to prevent it.

Although many Canadians have been seeing their GPs virtually since March 2020 and intend to continue with virtual care for non-emergency appointments, three-quarters of respondents aged 25 and older to a national survey released today, believe the virtual visit is not as effective as in-person appointments in discovering new or worsening symptoms.

Health Canada has recently expanded indication and approval for two transcatheter heart valves for use in a TAVI procedure.

Heart Valve Voice Canada is excited to welcome Ellen Ross as Managing Director! This is a new role for HVV Canada that will be the next step in the growth and development of our organization.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted an interesting shift in the delivery of patient care: digital health. The significant increase in demand for virtual and/or remote options to receive care and medical support due to limited in-person interactions has shone the spotlight on the need to explore how to properly and most effectively implement this new option.

HVV Canada is encouraged by the Government of Ontario’s continued investment in cardiac disease treatments and is now calling on the Province to further its commitment by accepting Ontario Health’s recommendation to publicly fund TAVI in adults with severe Aortic Stenosis who are at low surgical risk.

Survey results published by Global Heart Hub show that older Canadians are as unaware as ever of aortic stenosis, the most common form of heart valve disease. In its most serious form, more than half of patients with severe heart valve disease die within two years of developing symptoms.