The New Heart cross-border cooperation project, the first to link Spain and Portugal specifically in the field of cardiovascular diseases, "lays the foundations for a comprehensive, preventive and personalized care model" aimed at improving heart health in Galicia and Northern Portugal.
The proposal seeks to drive forward a cardiology that combines care work, Primary Care, the incorporation of innovative technology, and prevention strategies.
The progress of New Heart, developed over the past two years, was made known this Monday at the Santiago Biomedical Research Institute (IDIS), at an event in which its coordinators took part: cardiologists José Ramón González Juanatey, on the Galician side, and Ricardo Fonte-Carvalho, representing Portugal.
As they detailed, cardiovascular diseases represent a serious public health challenge. According to a 2025 report from the European Society of Cardiology, one in every three deaths in the European Union is attributed to these conditions, a figure comparable to that observed worldwide.
In Galicia and in Northern Portugal, in 2023 cardiovascular conditions were the leading cause of death among women, accounting for 28% of deaths, while among men they ranked second, only behind tumors, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Against this backdrop, New Heart aspires to renew the classic approach of cardiology through a model that brings together prevention, personalized care, and the use of emerging technologies.
The goal is to shape an experience that can be replicated in other areas of Europe with similar problems, especially regarding population aging and geographic dispersion.
González Juanatey emphasized that the initiative has made it possible to "lay the foundations for a laboratory for the holistic approach to heart health," with a framework applicable to other territories of the European Union.
Clinical protocols and use of artificial intelligence
Collaboration between Galicia and Northern Portugal has facilitated the exchange of knowledge, the sharing of clinical experiences, and the addition of research capabilities from both healthcare systems, with the involvement of specialists in cardiology, Primary Care, research, artificial intelligence, nutrition, and health services management.
One of the main lines of action focuses on designing a shared care process for ischemic heart disease, a condition that occurs when the heart does not receive enough blood flow.
The project foresees the creation of protocols to improve the detection of patients at higher risk, the indication of diagnostic tests, the choice of treatments, and the follow-up of patients’ progress. With this, the aim is to provide more uniform, coordinated care, supported by scientific evidence.
Another key line is technological innovation applied to cardiovascular diagnosis, through advanced analysis of coronary images, blood flow simulation models, and artificial intelligence tools.
These technical solutions make it possible to move toward more accurate assessments of coronary disease and to study less invasive diagnostic alternatives. Decision-making support instruments have also been designed, especially intended to facilitate the work of Primary Care professionals.
Prevention, Atlantic Diet, and data management
Prevention is another of New Heart’s pillars, which includes the analysis of lifestyles and the promotion of the Atlantic Diet as a way to reduce cardiovascular risk.
The initiative argues that innovation in healthcare should not be limited to generating new technologies, but must also include more effective strategies to promote healthy lifestyle habits and encourage citizens to actively participate in the care of their own health.
The project also addresses governance and the secure exchange of clinical information through three specific protocols. The first is aimed at organizing data and facilitating clinical research based on care indicators; the second regulates the flow of information between healthcare systems and advanced diagnostic service providers when an external processing of images in 3D or with artificial intelligence is necessary; and the third focuses on the exchange of data between Galicia and Northern Portugal.
New Heart includes the Sanitary Research Institute of Santiago (IDIS), the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), the spin-off company Flow Reserve, the Naevia Medical platform, the Fundación Dieta Atlántica, the Universidade do Porto, the Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João and the Unidade Local de Saúde Gaia-Espinho of the Portuguese National Health Service.
A congress on longevity and health in Galicia
The results obtained and the next lines of work of the project will also be discussed at the congress "Improvements to live 100 years", which will take place on 19 November at the Cidade da Cultura de Galicia.
The event will serve to share the advances of New Heart and open a new phase aimed at transferring its conclusions to clinical practice. The goal is to move toward a care model that is "cohesive, comprehensive and accessible", regardless of the patients' place of residence, and to integrate technological innovation into the preventive approach to cardiovascular diseases.
Galicia and Northern Portugal are among the most long-lived regions in Europe, but the project places the challenge not only in increasing life expectancy, but also in extending the years of autonomy and good health.
In this context, the Dieta Atlántica takes on a relevant role as one of the elements linked to longevity in both areas, both for its nutritional quality and the consumption of fresh products and for the healthy lifestyle it promotes.
The congress will also grant special prominence to Primary Care, whose role is considered key to moving toward a more preventive and efficient healthcare system, capable of responding to the needs of the rural population and to the future challenges of health services.