Business report 2022

Co-founders of Agir pour le Coeur des Femmes, Pr Claire Mounier-Véhier and Thierry Drilhon take stock of the work of Agir pour le Coeur des Femmes in 2022. They are delighted with the support of all our partners and local healthcare professionals, who have all contributed to saving lives.

Is women's health particularly at risk?
Claire Mounier-Véhier: 80% of women admit to being more concerned about the health of their loved ones than their own. Their lives are complex, and they combine professional activity with responsibility for the home, sometimes in a state of financial or emotional fragility. Cardiovascular disease has become the leading cause of death among them in France.
: every day in France, 2 women die from car accidents, 33 from breast cancer and 200 from cardiovascular disease. We urgently need to explain to women that these diseases are not just for men. Delays in treatment are mainly due to a lack of awareness of this reality.

Are there inequalities between women and men in access to care?
CMV: women are unaware of and neglect the warning symptoms, which are often atypical. They constantly put off cardiovascular screening consultations until later. We also note a later call to the Samu in the event of an acute accident... Some will pay a high price, victims of unrecovered cardiac arrest or infarction with irreversible heart failure.
TD: inequalities are very significant. We want to develop actions that help reduce them, around three major axes: Alert, Anticipate and Act, involving all players in the healthcare and economic worlds.

The data collected by your Observatoire National de la Santé des Femmes are alarming...
CMV : with 90% of participants accumulating at least 2 cardiovascular risk factors, the risk is real and insufficiently managed. One of the key findings is that the onset of menopause in France today is uncontrolled in terms of cardiovascular, metabolic and gynecological risk. All women, whatever their socio-professional category, need a long, free cardiovascular and gynecological consultation at the start of the menopause, like that carried out at the time of first contraception and first pregnancy.
TD: the results of this study are far more alarming than we had anticipated. The Women's Heart Bus delivered both keys to understanding these women to better apprehend their health, with concrete tools: integration into a care pathway when necessary, provision of an automatic blood pressure monitor, education on self-measurement to develop self-monitoring, documentation on cardiovascular health. Another key success criterion: 97% of the women were "satisfied and very satisfied" with their experience on the bus, and will talk to their friends and family about the importance of getting tested.

What's the key to a successful prevention campaign?
TD: The support of our funding partners and the trust they place in us are essential. The involvement of our institutional partners helps increase the credibility of our initiatives. In the context of the Women's Heart Bus, we are developing a collective action that restores meaning, links, positive listening and benevolence to all those involved: towns, local healthcare professionals and the network of associations for the general public. The success of our actions depends on taking root locally within the territories.
CMV: we are creating a virtuous ecosystem around cardiovascular and gynecological health. Working with local healthcare professionals, both liberal and hospital-based, we aim to make cardiovascular and gynecological care paths more accessible. Our ambition is not to offer a one-off screening, but to encourage the sustainability of appropriate local care. Our "Bus du Coeur des Femmes" is a wonderful tool for meeting these objectives, but it won't be enough. We are working to develop other tools that we will make available to more players, in more territories.

What is your main satisfaction for 2022?
CMV: we've received countless testimonials of support. The thanks from women who felt we had made a positive impact on their health are our greatest reward.
TD: together, we have created a benevolent and effective human chain, by sharing experiences and valuing diversity, cultures, professions, expertise... In 2023, we will continue to accelerate our local, national and international structuring, finalize our strategic project and develop our actions. Together, we save lives.

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