Mount Sinai Heart Director Discusses Population Health Promotion and a Stratified Approach for Cardiovascular Health at the United Nations
Dr. Valentin Fuster, Mount Sinai’s Heart Director, Joins a Panel of International Experts at the United Nations to Discuss the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital joined a panel of international experts at the United Nations where he spoke about promoting cardiovascular health worldwide and how the practice of medicine will change to reflect an increase in ambulatory care. Mount Sinai Heart is ranked No. 7 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its 2015 “Best Hospitals” issue.
The meeting, which focused on health and well-being and the comprehensive treatment of NCDs, was held by the United Nations NGO Committee on Mental Health, which is affiliated with the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CoNGO) in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. The event was co-sponsored by the International Council of Women, Soroptimist International, Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations, Sigma Theta Tau International, Nightingale Initiative for Global Health, Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities, American Psychiatric Association, International Psychoanalytical Association and Nonviolence International.
According to Dr. Fuster, “We are starting to experience a significant change in the way we deliver cardiovascular medicine with a focus on promoting health over treating disease. “As a result, we should expect to see a rise in ambulatory care and shorter hospital stays. This transition will require that cardiovascular specialists and health care workers are trained in ambulatory and home-based care.”
In 2010, the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) formed a committee, chaired by Dr. Fuster, which produced a report, entitled “Promoting Cardiovascular Health in the Developing World”. The report stressed the importance of health promotion during a person’s lifetime and the significant economic burden that cardiovascular disease places on our society. The authors proposed a stratified approach at 3 different age ranges in a person’s life to effectively promote cardiovascular health.
The first approach to stratified health is during the first 25 years of life, with the optimal period of time to motivate healthy behavior between 3- 5 years old. The second opportunity for stratified health is within the age range of 25 to 50 years old, when non-invasive imaging techniques can be used to detect potential future heart health issues. The third opportunity occurs at 50 years and upward, when cardiovascular disease has often begun.
“At every age range, there are scientific, psychological, and disease specific variables to consider, as well as different educational and behavioral tools to use to promote cardiovascular health globally,” stated Dr. Fuster. “My years of research strongly support early education intervention and the need for a stratified approach to health promotion worldwide.”
Since 2009, Dr. Fuster has worked with nearly 100,000 preschool-aged children, ages 3-5, in Madrid, Spain and Bogotá, Colombia to demonstrate that early health education can have long-lasting heart healthy effects. Under Dr. Fuster’s leadership, Mount Sinai Heart of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is launching a similar program in the United States in 8 New York City (NYC) Harlem preschools with children ages 3-5, along with their parents and caregivers, known as The FAMILIA Project.
The Project, made possible by a $3.8 million grant from the American Heart Association (AHA), is scheduled to begin this month. Mount Sinai has partnered with NYC’s Administration for Children's Services (ACS), Division of Early Care and Education Head Start programs to teach young children, their parents, and caregiver’s ways to reduce their risk factors of developing cardiovascular diseases, while also decreasing the growing obesity epidemic. The Project’s programming will focus on child, adult, peer group, and individual health interventions.
The meeting, which was attended by members of civil society, UN staff, and government representatives, took place at the United Nations Church Center on Thursday, November 12, 2015. Welcoming remarks were delivered by Dr. Vivian B. Pender, Chair, UN NGO Committee on Mental Health. Dr. Elizabeth Carll, Founder and Convener of the Global Mental Health and NCDs Work Group of the UN NGO Committee on Mental Health, served as the moderator. The panel was comprised of Dr. Valentin Fuster; H.E. Mr. Keith Marshall, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Mission of Barbados to the United Nations; Werner Obermeyer, Deputy Executive Director, World Health Organization in New York; Dr. Yesne Alici, Assistant Attending Psychiatrist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and Dr. Gustavo Gonzalez Canali, Senior Advisor and Focal Point for NCDs, UN Women.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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