General remarks

Cardiac patients should be advised about and have the opportunity to access a comprehensive cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation programme, addressing all aspects of lifestyle—smoking cessation, healthy eating, and being physically active—together with more effective management of blood pressure, lipids, and glucose. To achieve the clinical benefits of a multidisciplinary and multifactorial prevention programme we need to integrate professional lifestyle interventions with effective risk factor management and evidence-based drug therapies, appropriately adapted to the medical, cultural, and economic setting of a country. The challenge is to engage and motivate cardiologists, physicians, and health professionals to routinely practise high-quality preventive cardiology and promote a healthcare system which invests in prevention.