Earlier this month, the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA73) resumed to continue discussions on the agenda items which were not discussed during the opening session in May.

The Assembly addressed a wide range of issues relevant to the management of global public health. WHF submitted a joint statement, together with our partners in the Global Coalition for Circulatory Health, calling for an increased focus on NCDs.

On 16 November, to mark World Diabetes Day, WHF hosted the second webinar in our Heart to Heart series: Why Silos in Healthcare are Killing Patients: CVD, diabetes and the importance of connected care. Moderated by Rachel Burden (BBC), the purpose of the discussion was to better understand the silos in healthcare, the risks of CVD for people with diabetes, and how to break down these silos.

WHF has launched a Photo Competition aimed at highlighting the challenges that people around the world face because of cardiovascular disease (CVD), as well as the actions that people are taking to promote heart health and support those affected by CVD.

The top 20 shortlisted photos will be announced in a press release and featured in a WHF Virtual Photography Exhibition. The three winning photographs will be announced on World Health Day 2021.

Since its launch earlier this year, the WHF COVID-19 and CVD study has recruited over 1000 patients from 22 participating hospitals in 15 countries. The study aims to understand cardiovascular outcomes and risk factors associated with poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19, especially in underserved areas where research is lacking in this field. For more information on how you can contribute please contact Lana Raspail at [email protected].

In Colombia, we kicked off the Act with a Woman’s Heart (Actúa con Corazón de Mujer) project together with our members the Colombian Society of Cardiology and the Colombia Heart Foundation. The project aims to empower women health professionals and female leaders in black communities in Quibdo, Cartagena and Apartado to take a leading role in preventing and managing heart disease through online training, health screenings, support groups, and awareness campaigns.

We are thrilled to announce the 21 WHF Member organizations who have been selected to receive a World Heart Grant of up to USD 2,000. The grants support organizational capacity-building projects, online activities for healthcare professionals, media campaigns and  World Heart Day campaign initiatives.

We will be sharing updates from all the grant recipients in the coming months. This month's featured organization is the Slovenian Heart Foundation and their World Heart Day campaign highlighting the link between COVID-19 and CVD.

The American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session & Expo will take place on 15-17 May, providing an engaging and interactive forum to reFocus on Science and reConnect with Patient Care.

ACC.21 will offer an innovative digital platform built for learning, collaboration, and networking to reach more people than ever before in real-time.

NCD Academy is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between major actors in global health to equip frontline health workers with integrated, mobile-first education on NCD care as they take on a more prominent role in prevention.

The COVID-19 and CVD mini-course, which was until recently only available in English, has now been translated into Chinese and Spanish. All courses are available online and completely free.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year’s theme relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to build back better by ensuring Human Rights are central to recovery efforts.

Every 12 December, advocates worldwide mobilize on UHC Day to call for strong, equitable health systems that leave no one behind. Nearly one year after the first cases of COVID-19 were reported to the World Health Organization, the UHC movement will call for investments in health systems that protect everyone.