Partnership in cardiovascular medicine

Through several years of work within the Board of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), we have become increasingly aware of an issue of growing importance for the future, not only for the Society but also for other actors within the framework of cardiovascular medicine, partnership. Thus, we would like to express our thoughts on partnership between professional organizations, healthcare providers and governments, and the medical industry. The ESC was founded in 1950, when most of the diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities that are today’s norms were not available and, in many cases, not even imagined. The Society was founded at a time of great hope for the future. Technological and other innovations, partly derived from the war industry, became fundamental for medical progress. Representatives from 14 National Societies of Cardiology appreciated the importance of joint efforts, and created the embryo of the ESC. From then on, the Society grew into a large and powerful organization, highly respected within the profession and by the medical industry, particularly after creation of the Scientific Working Groups in 1976, the administrative office in 1986, and annual congresses since 1989. The platform of the Society, co-operation between National Societies of cardiologists and Scientific Working Groups, became consolidated and the annual congress rapidly grew into a global event. Subsequently in 1993, the European Heart House, our headquarters, was inaugurated at Sophia Antipolis in southern France.