MAGYAR KARDIOLÓGUSOK TÁRSASÁGA

Team Up for Health Hearts

2 October 2007 in Brussels marked the inaugural meeting of the Members of European Parliament (MEP) Heart Group. The meeting is particularly timely as we have seen significant developments to address CVD in Europe during the last year. These include: the launch of the European Heart Health Charter with the official support of the European Commission and the WHO European region in June; the European Parliament's adoption by an overwhelming majority (607-2) of a Resolution on "action to tackle cardiovascular disease" in July; and the publication of the new European Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice, in September. The meeting in Brussels brought together national heart foundations - among those the Hungarian National Heart Foundation - that are committed to working with European politicians and officials to address cardiovascular disease across the continent.

A new era of the fight against cardiovascular diseases has begun on the 20th June, 2007, only 8 days after the initial launch in Brussels. The Hungarian National Heart Foundation and the Hungarian Society of Cardiologists jointly organised the first national level signature ceremony of the European Heart Health Charter. The charter was endorsed by the Minister of Health and leaders of 18 professional and civic organisations.

"This is an unprecedented occasion to reach a national consensus, that was the starting point in other countries in their struggle against heart diseases. We need a broad platform, since neither individuals, nor professional societies or politicians are able to change the dramatic situation alone. The implementation of the Charter promises a longer, disease-free life, and we must not not miss the opportunity," said Dr. Andras Nagy, President of the Hungarian National Heart Foundation.
The roundtable of the signatories of the Charter prioritised three key areas for immediate action:
• Heart-healthy lifestyles should be incorporated into the curriculum of school education.
• Forceful regulatory and taxation measures should be implemented against active and passive smoking. Smoking should be forbidden at all workplaces.
• Appropriate incentives combined with strong media involvement are needed to reach at least the minimum recommended level of 400 g fruit and vegetable consumption for adults.
The most successful element in prevention is the reduction of smoking. We, physicians, must stand up from our seats in the clinics and find the potential patients to educate them for living in a way that would make their future visits to the clinic unnecessary," said Dr. Robert Gabor Kiss, Secretary General of the Hungarian Society of Cardiologists. „

SELECTIONS from the history of the Hungarian Society of Cardiology At the end of the 1940s, Imre Zárday endeavored to form the Scientific Society of Cardiology. At the Capital City Consulting Room for Heart Examination (Budapest, VII. Dohány u. 34.), along with Sándor Pelczner and Gyula Szutrély, he organized "non-official" extension courses which were the basis for the "new society" founded in 1955 and which started its work under the name of Specialized Cardiolo-gical Group of the Medical Division of the Union of Medical Workers. The new society's scientific program was planned by the leadership - the "chairmen of the board of sessions" - which included István Kunos, Imre Littmann, Sándor Pelczner, Gyula Szutrély, Imre Zárday, and in 1957 György Gottsegen and József Kudász were also invited to join their ranks. The organization of the scientific sessions and all kind of work was done from the first day on and throughout long years by "the secretary, Kálmán Ghyczy, with extraordinary zeal. A series of regular extension courses were held with temporary lecturers. Among the lecturers on casuistry there were also young colleagues which was a contribution to their scientific activity. With the help of Tibor Debrőczy, director of the Balatonfüred State Hospital, in September 1957 a meeting of physicians took place again in Balatonfüred on the subject of cardiology. In 1958 and 1959, itinerary congresses were held at Balatonfüred within the framework of the "doctors' day", and since 1962 it had become a tradition to hold such congresses there in every May. Cardiology was the main subject of the 1963 Congress of Hungarian Internal Specialists organized by the members of the National Institute of Cardiology and those of the specialized group, and chaired by György Gottsegen. This was for the first time after the war that there was an international participation at such a congress. The Federation of Hungarian Medical Societies (MOTESZ) was set up in the mid-1960s, and in 1966 the Hungarian Society of Cardiology was formed within its framework from the former specialized group. According to the new statue, the chairmen of the board of sessions was replaced by the Society's leadership whose chairman became (György Gábor and he had held this office up to his death, 1979. In 1972, Kálmán Ghyczy started the Society's scientific quarterly called "Cardiologia Hungarica" and had been its editor up to 1980. The 1980 general assembly for reelection of officials elected an enlarged leadership which carried out its activity with a new status and new working groups, with a membership of over 200 persons. In the 1990s, the Hungarian Society of Cardiology has already been a well-known scientific society with broad-scale international relations and an active membership of over 1000 physicians. Its history is that of our everyday lité which fact has been reflected by the copies of Cardiologia Hungarica since 1980. Mária Istvánffy M.D.