The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the uptake of digital health, creating an opportunity to strengthen the response to Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD).
In particular, the potential of remote health management has been highlighted when face-to-face medical consultations have not been possible in many settings.
As the article “World Heart Day 2021: COVID-19, digital health, and tackling cardiovascular disease” published on The Lancet says, this spurt can “improve access and achieve greater equity in health care for the millions of people at risk of or living with CVD, particularly those in lower-resource settings with limited access to in-person treatment.”
There are several reasons why telemedicine could help in the fight against CVD, the leading cause of death worldwide. For instance, digital technologies can “empower people by providing them with more control of their wellbeing in sickness and in health”. Digital health should help in addressing health inequalities and increasing access to health care in low-resource settings.
On Sept 29, 2021, the World Heart Federation, its members, and the wider community came together to celebrate World Heart Day. This year the call to action was “Use Heart to Connect”. Digital health can help connect every heart everywhere and thus bring us one step closer to achieving cardiovascular health for everyone.
Reference: “World Heart Day 2021: COVID-19, digital health, and tackling cardiovascular disease” byFausto J Pinto, Daniel Piñeiro, Amitava Banerjee, Pablo Perel, Borjana Pervan, Jean-Luc Eiselé, 28 September 2021, The Lancet.
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