The Stent – Save a Life! community is such a family united by its ambition to improve STEMI care on a global scale. The end of the year is therefore an appropriate moment to reflect on family affairs and look back on 2021.

The sudden outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected acute cardiac care resulting in a marked reduction of hospital admissions associated with an increase in cardiac morbidity and mortality worldwide. Since the early stages of the pandemic, our national Stent – Save a Life! networks have allowed to document these pandemic-related complications leading to numerous reports and publications.

As the COVID pandemic lingered in 2021, cardiovascular disease remained the leading cause of death globally. All these important observations encouraged Stent – Save a Life! to launch the We CARE initiative in collaboration with PCR and thanks to the endorsement of our industrial partner Medtronic. Officially introduced during EuroPCR, We CARE’s mission is to help all stakeholders – healthcare professionals, patients’ associations, public authorities, … – ensure that cardiac care is maintained during a pandemic. Learning from the lessons of the multiple waves, knowledge, education and training programmes are being developed – some in cooperation with Stent-Save a Life! member countries – to provide concrete tools and solutions for continuation of cardiac care and to raise patients’ awareness in seeking medical help in urgent conditions for examples.

Over the past year, the collaboration through We CARE strengthened the relationship between Stent – Save a Life!, PCR and Europa Group – specialist in scientific and medical congress organisation, supporting the international PCR and Valves courses – leading to a turning point in the development of our global initiative.

Initially born as a response to the COVID pandemic, We CARE has also highlighted some challenges in cardiac care access. These findings triggered the recent development of a broader We CARE umbrella whose ethos may be as broad as reducing access inequalities by defining and advocating standards of care for specific cardiovascular disease states whilst safeguarding the cardiac care continuum and avoiding negative patient outcomes.

Currently under registration as a not-for-profit entity by Europa Group, the We CARE umbrella is opening-up the opportunity for Stent – Save a Life! to join a philanthropic organisation as the synergistic programme addressing STEMI care access. This move will offer our initiative the benefit of a solid backbone guaranteeing the continuity of the Stent – Save a Life! operations in the long-run and solving the ever-greater problem of raising funds in an economically challenging environment. We’re hopeful that the incorporation of We CARE and the integration of Stent – Save a Life! should be completed shortly. More information to follow soon.

Finally, the successful collaboration between PCR, Stent – Save a Life! and Medtronic through the We CARE project, as well as the recognition of the enduring pandemic affecting both acute and chronic cardiac care, has resulted in encouraging preliminary discussions with the European Commission regarding the next 2022 grant application programme.

Looking back on our activities in 2021, Stent – Save a Life! hosted virtually an interesting Annual Forum in May with some excellent presentations of case reports and an insightful update on the healthcare situation in the member countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the final version of the Blueprint manuscript for STEMI care was highlighted, followed by its publication in EuroIntervention in August (How to set-up regional STEMI networks: providing best possible STEMI care). This is definitely an important step forward in our ambition to help other countries improve their STEMI systems of care. The Hub and Spoke model, at the heart of the Blueprint approach, has previously proven its success in several regions of India as outlined in numerous publications of the STEMI India network led by our co-chairman Thomas Alexander.

The Blueprint publication and the longstanding collaboration with STEMI India led the Stent-Save a Life! Board, during the last quarter, to initiate pilot projects in selected African countries, all featuring a large discrepancy between needs and available resources. The purpose of the SSL/STEMI India collaboration is to provide help and support, over a 2–3-year period, for the set-up of an efficient STEMI network encompassing medical and paramedical personnel online training and assistance with the implementation of a Hub and Spoke model that may vary according to the region’s needs.

Governments of the participating countries are expected to endorse the programme and get involved from start in order to guarantee the success and sustainability of the STEMI network once the SSL/STEMI India’s leadership comes to an end. Participating in such a pilot project should be of great interest from a governmental perspective in view of the documented reduction in cardiac mortality and associated health costs.

We are currently seeking funding actively by reaching out to industrial partners, a crucial prerequisite for the launch of these pilot projects. Meanwhile, a few member countries have expressed their interest to take part in these projects and new candidate countries to become members of the Stent-Save a Life! community.

We sincerely hope to be able to meet in person at our yearly meeting in Paris next May to share with you the update on the aforementioned projects but also give the floor to new members and exchange ideas on how to move forward with our expanding global organisation.

Meanwhile, we would like to express our gratitude for your continued voluntary engagement in improving STEMI care so that ever more patients are able to access the pPCI lifesaving treatment, and our best wishes to you and your family for the upcoming, and hopefully Omicron-free, 2022!

Happy New Year!

Jan J Piek
Chairman

Thomas Alexander
Co-Chairman

Sandrine Wallace
Project Manager