Despite being responsible for causing 35% of deaths in women each year, cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women remains understudied, under-recognised, under-diagnosed, and under-treated, with women under-represented in clinical trials. To tackle these inequities 17 experts from 11 countries, led by Commission chairs Roxana Mehran, C. Noel Bairey Merz, Angela H.E.M. Maas, and Monica Acevedo have authored the first-ever global report on CVD in women.
The all-female-led Commission, launched at the ACC.21 virtual congress, outlines 10 ambitious new recommendations to tackle inequities in targeting diagnosis, treatment, and prevention to reduce CVD in women, including educating health care providers and patients on early detection to prevent heart disease in women, scaling up heart health programs in highly populated and underdeveloped regions, and prioritising sex-specific research on heart disease in women and intervention strategies for women.