Cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death around the world, with an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, according to the WHO. The term cardiovascular diseases include different conditions related to the heart and blood vessels, such as heart attack and stroke. Different behavioural factors are risk factor for the development of these conditions. Among those are poor diet, physical inactivity and the use of tobacco and alcohol. Therefore, most people that smoke, are overweight or obese and have high blood pressure and blood lipids are at risk of developing serious health complications.

Pharmacists can play a key role in the screening and management of risk factors, providing useful advice on how to keep a healthier lifestyle and provide adequate medication management for patients undergoing chronic therapies. This can include specific tasks such as patient education and counselling, medication review or detection of risk factors through, for example, measurement of blood pressure or glycemia. Since pharmacy services are easily accessible and widely distributed in the community setting, a maximum benefit should be expected from interventions provided in this context.

Publications

Cardiovascular diseases: A handbook for pharmacists

This handbook identifies and describes pharmacist-led interventions in cardiovascular disease prevention, screening, management, and treatment optimisation to both support their implementation in pharmacy practice and to support advocacy efforts towards the optimisation and expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice in cardiovascular diseases and NCDs in general.

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FIP knowledge and skills reference guide for professional development in cardiovascular diseases

This knowledge and skills reference guide provides a comprehensive list of required knowledge and skills in pharmaceutical and related care to support pharmacists to develop, upskill and refresh knowledge in cardiovascular diseases and related roles in pharmacy. The guide supplements the FIP handbook on cardiovascular diseases for pharmacists and was developed in consultation with a global reference group.

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Nutrition and weight management services: a toolkit for pharmacists (2021)

This toolkit provides an international collection of best practices of professional services, evidence and guidance for nutrition-related and weight-management services both for pharmacist organisations and individual practitioners.

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Beating non-communicable diseases in the community: The contribution of pharmacists (2019)

This reference paper provides global evidence to advocate, nationally and internationally, for an expanded role for pharmacists in NCD management by compiling best practices and examples. It also encourages pharmacists around the world to act upon NCDs.

Spanish | French | Turkish

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The role of pharmacists in non-communicable diseases (2019)

This FIP statement of policy renews the commitment of the profession to the optimal prevention, detection and care of patients living with NCDs. It replaces the 2006 FIP Policy Statement on the role of the pharmacist in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.

German | Spanish | French

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Events/Webinars

Pharmacy-based nutrition care: How nutrition impacts heart health

November 3, 2022

How nutrition impacts heart health is the focus of this event, the last and final one in the ‘Food for thought: Pharmacists’ role in healthy nutrition.’ The webinar aims to examine the interlinks between nutrition and heart health, its role in the prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases, how pharmacy-based nutrition services can support patients with heart conditions.

The event aims to:

Understand how nutrition impacts heart health
Describe the importance of pharmaceutical care for heart health with a focus on supplements
Highlight the important role of pharmacists in improving heart health and preventing cardiac disease.

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Transforming pharmacy practice for improved care and management of cardiovascular diseases

October 26, 2022

The World Health Organization estimate that 17.9 million people die from cardiovascular diseases each year, representing 32% of all global deaths. Pharmacists have a role to play in the prevention, care and management of cardiovascular diseases and their complications. FIP has developed a new handbook to support pharmacists and their organisations in providing a range of cardiovascular diseases-related services. This handbook — which will be launched at this event — also identifies the knowledge and skills that pharmacists require for the provision of such services, thus offering guidance to academic institutions and CPD providers. This handbook is part of the FIP Practice Transformation Programme on Non-Communicable Diseases

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Pharmacy-based anticoagulation management

October 13, 2021

Anticoagulant therapy requires appropriate monitoring and management to ensure safety and effectiveness of the treatment, avoid complications and to achieve optimal clinical outcomes. Pharmacists can play an important role in anticoagulation therapy management through their expert knowledge of medicines. This role also includes the provision of patient education, identification of drug interactions, monitoring for dose appropriateness and checking for adverse effects. This webinar will explore the various roles that pharmacists can play in providing anticoagulation management services.

The contribution of pharmacists in non-communicable diseases. Cardiovascular diseases

February 12, 2020

This webinar is part of series of webinars exploring the contribution of pharmacists to improving the quality of life of individuals living with non-communicable diseases. The focus of this webinar is on cardiovascular diseases.

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