Bus du Cœur: François Braun launches the 2023 edition and is committed to cardiovascular prevention for women

THE Bus of the Heart is back on the roads of France. On the program, fifteen stages in the four corners of France and the same mission: to offer cardiovascular screenings and inform women about their risks. Remember that cardiovascular diseases (infarction, stroke, heart disease, etc.) are the leading cause of death for women in France. The figures are obvious: when a woman dies every day from a road accident in France, 33 others die of breast cancer and 200 of cardiovascular disease!

For the first stage of this initiative launched by Acting for the Hearts of Women and of which Top Santé is a partner, the Pink Bus stopped in Cannes from March 8 to 10. More than 250 women were screened.

The visit of François Braun, “a strong indicator of the desire to create new models of prevention”

Traveling to Cannes on March 10, the Minister of Health visited the Women’s Heart Bus and announced the funding of 30 buses in the coming years. François Braun was able to be guided by Pr Claire Mounier Véhier and Thierry Drilhon, the co-founders of Agir pour le Coeur des femmes. Together they were able to follow the entire screening process, discuss the importance of prevention and awareness-raising in the heart of the territories, both with the general public and with health professionals.

“With our Agir pour le Coeur des Femmes endowment fund, we are all building together cardiovascular and gynecological care pathways alongside local, private and hospital health professionals. Our ambition is not to offer one-time screening via the Women’s Heart Bus, but well to encourage the sustainability of appropriate care in the territories of the stopover towns, said Professor Claire Mounier-Véhier. The visit of Mr. François Braun, Minister of Health and Prevention, on the occasion of the launch of the 2023 edition, is a strong indicator of the desire of public health actors to create new prevention models. Only collective action rooted in a territory, mobilizing local actors can have real effectiveness in the long term.”

The Women’s Heart Bus is a way to meet women who do not take the time to worry about their health, in order to put them back in a structured care pathway. It also contributes to the collaboration of communities, associations and local health professionals to become part of the territories in the long term.

The city of Cannes is thus very committed to the prevention of cardiac pathologies. Beyond the screening offered by the Bus du Cœur, the town hall has launched several concrete actions: training in emergency actions for citizens, deployment of 101 defibrillators throughout the municipality, ambitious policy oriented towards the practice of physical activity regularly or even the opening next June of the largest private cardiology center in France in the city centre.

Better diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases in women

With 200 deaths per day including 80% could be avoided through preventionPr Claire Mounier Véhier and Thierry Drilhon, co-founders of the operation, stress the importance of alerting and raising awareness among the general public and institutions about this medical and societal emergency. “Identifying risk factors to better prevent and diagnose cardiovascular diseases, particularly among precarious populations, responds to a real public policy challenge”, they explain.

Thanks to these screening actions carried out since 2021 and on the basis of anonymized medical files recovered on board the buses, a Women’s Health Observatory will be published each year: “This unprecedented observatory will make it possible to make an unprecedented medical and societal inventory of the cardiovascular health of women”emphasizes Claire Mounier.

In practice: what happens on board a Bus du Cœur?

The first step is to register. Then, the screening course on board the Bus lasts an hour and a half on average. A medical examination (history, possible symptoms, etc.) and examinations are offered (blood pressure, weight, abdominal circumference, blood sugar level, etc.). Each woman also benefits from a demonstration of the operation of the blood pressure monitor with a self-measurement workshop on the health village. Then, depending on the results, a follow-up is then organized with the help of the Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie and health professionals in the area. Appointments for specialized consultations (cardiologist, gynecologist, etc.) are pre-booked and a summary letter is sent to the attending physician.

The next steps of the Bus du Cœur: