International initiatives on heart failure launched at city conference

Galway Bay fm newsroom - Patient group leaders from 18 countries around the world are attending a conference in the city this week to discuss issues affecting those living with heart failure.

The condition affects 90 thousand people in Ireland, with 10 thousand new cases diagnosed every year.

International delegates are attending the conference at the Croí Heart and Stroke Centre in Newcastle today.

Topics up for discussion include a need to build strategic alliances between international patient groups and ways to prioritise the matter on the health policy agenda.

Neil Johnson, CEO of the Galway Croí Heart and Stroke Centre says one of five people can expect to develop heart failure in their lifetime.