JACARDI Strengthens European Alliance in Addressing Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

Biosistemak has participated in the 2nd General Assembly in Paris during the General Assembly of the project, where advances in research and development of interventions on non-communicable diseases have been shared.

From 16 to 18 October 2024, Paris was the meeting point for representatives from 21 European countries at the 2nd General Assembly of the JACARDI project. This event marks a year of collaboration of 76 European entities in joint EU action, focused on reducing risk factors, improving health care services and promoting the health of the population in pursuit of the prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes.  The participation of around 250 people in person, together with a significant online audience, is evidence of the interest and need to address CVD and DM in a collaborative way.

A Project aimed at improving people’s health

JACARDI‘s main objective is to support EU countries in implementing best practices for the prevention and treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and Diabetes (DM). In the project, it is working on and defining programmes and interventions including the experience and perspective of the patient and the individual from the outset on improving health literacy and awareness of CVD and DM, screening and primary prevention among high-risk populations, improving care pathways in health services, self-management of diseases, and finally the inclusion of patients with these conditions in the labour market.

Biosistemak represents the Basque Country in this action and plays an active role in the project. During the Assembly, the scientific communication plan and the tools designed to effectively disseminate the results of the project were presented. This is a key activity in the project, as it provides a scientific dissemination approach to all the knowledge generated, which is essential to ensure that the information reaches different audiences and encourages greater collaboration.

Commitment to Public Health

The assembly has started with the Executive Board meeting, where leaders of the different work packages have shared challenges and advances regarding the defined implementation methodology, the sustainability of the interventions or the equity and diversity approach that JACARDI intends to integrate in the projects to be implemented. In this work, Biosistemak is playing a central role, providing its experience on implementation science for the transfer of practices in an effective way to other contexts and methodology to facilitate the dialogue between partners. Collaboration with JAPrevent NCD has also been a recurring theme, highlighting the synergies needed to optimise results.

Biosistemak‘s commitment has been reflected in its leadership in the scientific communication session, where a set of tools to improve the dissemination of information about the project has been presented.

During the second day of the meeting, the technical work packages addressing Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes from different areas have held parallel meetings to review the work done during the first year and to review that address specific topics of each work package, with an active participation of Biosistemak in WP6, work package that co-leads together with Sante publique France and that focuses on health literacy. This event has focused on the implementation of health pilots, reinforcing the importance of health literacy to empower the population in the management of their wellbeing and health.

Looking to the Future

For the coming year, Biosistemak plans to continue its work on the implementation of the dissemination work package, focusing on the strategy of scientific dissemination and its promotion among JACARDI participants. In addition, it will continue as co-leader of WP6, integrating methodologies to improve health literacy and its application in various contexts.

In addition, together with the collaboration of Osakidetza, it will continue to work on designing two pilots to be deployed in Osakidetza in the areas of health literacy and the heart failure care pathway, seeking greater effectiveness in the intervention and prevention of diseases such as CVD and DM.

A Collective Effort for Health

The 2nd General Assembly of JACARDI is an important milestone on the way to promote and strengthen collaboration between European countries in the fight against non-communicable diseases. The participation of Biosistemak, representing the Basque Country in this project, highlights the importance of working together towards a common goal: to improve public health and the quality of life of European citizens.

For more information on the JACARDI project, please click here.