The Inter-American Society of Cardiology (IASC) is a non-profit professional association of national cardiology societies in the Region of the Americas, and the Spanish Society of Cardiology. IASC promotes the advancement of cardiology and interdisciplinary/intersectoral collaboration to prevent cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are responsible for 30% of deaths in the Region.
Founded in 1944 in Mexico City on the occasion of the first Inter-American Congress of Cardiology, IASC now comprises 28 national professional cardiology societies that bring together more than 40 000 cardiologists from the Americas and Spain. Its objective is to be the reference point for the national cardiology societies of the Region in research, education, and cardiovascular prevention.
Technical and scientific cooperation between the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and IASC was formalized in 2012, when the PAHO Executive Committee admitted IASC as a non-State actor in official relations. Since then, IASC has collaborated with PAHO, contributing its technical expertise, scientific capital, and influence on health policies throughout the Region.
Promoting cardiovascular health by implementing the HEARTS Initiative in the Americas
In more than 10 years of collaboration, PAHO and IASC have carried out multiple cooperation activities aimed at preventing CVDs, which are the leading cause of death in the Region of the Americas, with the greatest burden of disease and disability. PAHO and IASC have contributed to education, research, and knowledge exchange through the promotion of training, scientific and academic cooperation, and dissemination of public policies for cardiovascular prevention.
PAHO has consistently participated in academic spaces in the Inter-American Congress of Cardiology, which is held annually in different countries of the Region. Several IASC members have also collaborated in technical advisory activities and the writing of scientific articles. Other joint initiatives include the launch in 2017 of a course on hypertension and cardiovascular risk management, endorsed by IASC and made available to the public free of charge at the PAHO Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH), with the participation of over 170 000 people.
IASC also provides increasing support to PAHO in the dissemination and implementation of the HEARTS Initiative in the Americas, which seeks to transform the quality of health services by strengthening the capacities of primary care teams for integrated management of cardiovascular risk. The partnership with IASC -- and through it, with the national societies in IASC member countries -- has received massive support from the cardiological community. This, in turn, has increased political support, technical capacities, and advocacy for the implementation and institutionalization of HEARTS in the countries of the Region.
Its prestigious network of professionals, as well as its strong, constant support for the implementation of public policies aimed at combating CVDs in the Region, has made IASC a key partner for PAHO in the prevention of these diseases and in the implementation of the HEARTS Initiative in the countries of the Region.
For more information, see:
- Inter-American Society of Cardiology (IASC)
- HEARTS in the Americas
- HEARTS in the Americas: targeting health system change to improve population hypertension
- IASC Campus: Virtual course on secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease for primary care teams (in Spanish only)
- Pan American Journal of Public Health: Control of arterial hypertension: a pending issue
- HEARTS webinar: Building bridges between societies of cardiology and primary health care teams
- The Interamerican Society of Cardiology (IASC) through its Community Council (SIAComunidad) launches a health promotion campaign called "For the Heart of America" (in Spanish)