Eileen Novins: The Marfan Foundation Supports The Work of The WHF

Eileen Novins, Chief Global Business Development Officer at The Marfan Foundation, shared Jagat Narula’s post on LinkedIn:

“Thanks to the World Heart Federation for putting the spotlight on neglected cardiovascular diseases, including aortopathies. In many cases, these are not rare conditions, but they are neglected. The Marfan Foundation supports the work of the WHF and continues to align with the critical work they are doing internationally.”

Jagat Narula President at World Heart Federation, shared a post on LinkedIn about a recent article he and his colleagues co-authored, published in The Lancet Summit, adding:

“A child should not die from a heart condition simply because of the zip code or country of their birth. Yet for millions of children, adolescents, and young adults around the world, that remains the reality.

I am pleased to share our declaration in The Lancet, on behalf of the World Heart Federation, Cardiomyopathy Network, and Marfan Foundation: ‘2026: The Year of Neglected Cardiac Diseases.’

Cardiovascular medicine has witnessed extraordinary progress. We can diagnose disease earlier, and intervene more effectively. Yet the benefits of these advances remain profoundly unequal.

Today, an estimated 100 million people are living with neglected cardiac diseases, with a disproportionate burden among children and young adults and in low- and middle-income countries. Despite their enormous human toll, these conditions remain insufficiently represented on national and global health agendas.

Perhaps nowhere is this inequity more striking than in congenital heart disease. A child born with CHD in a well-resourced health system can often expect timely diagnosis, corrective intervention, and the prospect of a long and productive life. A child born with the same condition elsewhere may never receive a diagnosis, much less the specialist care or surgery that could save their life.

The disease is the same. The opportunity to survive is not.

This is why the World Heart Federation has designated 2026 as the Year of Neglected Cardiac Diseases, focusing global attention on four major areas: rheumatic heart disease, Chagas disease, congenital heart disease, and inherited cardiomyopathies and aortopathies.

These diseases differ profoundly in their biology, geography, and clinical manifestations, but they share one disturbing reality: much of their burden persists not because science lacks answers, but because knowledge, proven interventions, and effective care have not reached those who need them most.

In our Lancet declaration, we call for stronger political commitment, sustained investment, more resilient health systems, earlier diagnosis, expanded access to specialist care, and implementation of interventions we already know can save lives.

The challenge before us is therefore not simply one of discovery. It is one of implementation and collective responsibility. The knowledge exists. The tools exist. The opportunity exists.

What we need now is the collective resolve to ensure that geography, income, or circumstance no longer determines who receives life-saving cardiovascular care and who does not.

I hope you will join us in advancing this mission.

My sincere thanks to all authors for joining together around this important cause. It is time to bring neglected cardiac diseases out of the shadows and place them firmly at the center of the global cardiovascular agenda.”

Title: The Year of Neglected Cardiac Diseases

Authors: Jagat Narulaa, Gregory Rothb, Dorairaj Prabhakarana, Andrea Beatonc, Daniel Piñeiroa, Eduardo Bossonef, Michael Weamerf , Yunshu Wanga, Borjana Pervana, Kim A Eagleh, Perry Elliottk, Bente Mikkelsenm, George A Mensahn, R Krishna Kumarc,

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