A new EU-funded flagship initiative to harness the power of health data and artificial intelligence (AI) across the continuum of cardiovascular care has been launched, with funding from the EU4Health Program. 

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of mortality and disability in Europe, constituting the primary burden among non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with persistent inequalities across countries and institutions. Health data and AI offer major opportunities to improve CVD prevention, early detection and care. However, uptake is currently fragmented and standardized validation mechanisms are lacking.

The European Cardiovascular Health Data and AI Network (CHAIN) has been launched to close the gap, focusing on implementation, evaluation, governance and scale-up. This 36-month project is coordinated by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) as part of a multi-stakeholder consortium from 20 European countries. The 53 partners include universities and research centers, hospitals and clinical networks, technology companies, national ministries of health and patient organizations. CHAIN builds on the ESC's EuroHeart registry network, which already unifies 18 ESC member countries with standardised data on cardiovascular care and outcomes, offering tools and frameworks that help countries monitor outcomes, compare practices and drive sustainable improvements in care.