The EU Safe Hearts Plan and Greece: implementation considerations and opportunities

On 16 December 2025, the European Commission introduced the Safe Hearts Plan, the first dedicated European-level strategy to address cardiovascular disease, structured around 10 Flagship Initiatives covering prevention, nutrition, tobacco control, vaccination, individualized treatment, digital technology, equity, and research. The Plan recommends that all 27 EU member states develop national cardiovascular health (CVH) plans by 2027. For Greece, the Safe Hearts Plan's 2027 deadline for national CVH plans represents a logical progression, building on substantial existing prevention initiatives. This commentary presents a first, qualitative mapping of how Greece's existing cardiovascular prevention framework aligns with the Safe Hearts Plan's 10 Flagship Initiatives, discusses implementation considerations within the Greek health system, and highlights opportunities for future development. This mapping is intended as a narrative approach, which considers relevant national policies/programmes, population reach where available, delivery infrastructure and workforce capacity, health-system indicators benchmarked against EU/OECD comparators where available, and documented implementation challenges. Greece's national cardiovascular screening programme, Prolamvano, launched in 2024 and covering up to 5.5 million adults, provides a strong basis for Flagship Initiatives 1 and 6. Health system considerations include high smoking prevalence, a primary care workforce distribution imbalance, significant out-of-pocket health expenditure, and ongoing development of digital health technology. For each Flagship Initiative, we propose measurable indicators and data sources to support future systematic and longitudinal assessment of implementation progress. Greece appears well positioned to develop a national CVH plan, supported by substantial prevention infrastructure already in place.