Through a charity initiative, Edwards Lifesciences, a cardiac equipment company in Irvine, California, reports that it has been able to serve more than 400,000 underserved people as it works to treat and prevent heart valve disease.
The Every Heartbeat Matters initiative, launched in 2014, is estimated to impact 1 million underserved people by 2020, according to a press release.
"Millions of people around the world suffer from heart valve disease, yet unbeknown to most, the disease is highly treatable once detected," said Maurice E. Sarano, MD, professor of medicine at Mayo Medical School and director of the Valvular Heart Disease Clinic and consultant in Cardiovascular Diseases and International Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in a statement.
The initiative helps support cardiac and patient-focused non-profit organizations that screen and treat underserved populations who may be at risk for heart valve disease. More than $15 million has been donated to the cause.
"Our Every Heartbeat Matters partners are bringing strategic philanthropy, passion and commitment to help vulnerable people all around the world who are affected by heart valve disease," said Michael A. Mussallem, the chairman and CEO of Edwards Lifesciences and chairman at Edwards Lifesciences Foundation, in a statement. "We are proud to help fuel their bold and impactful work and are on track to achieve our collective pursuit of helping one million underserved people by 2020."
Senior Writer
As a Senior Writer for TriMed Media Group, Katherine primarily focuses on producing news stories, Q&As and features for Cardiovascular Business. She reports on several facets of the cardiology industry, including emerging technology, new clinical trials and findings, and quality initiatives among providers. She is based out of TriMed's Chicago office and holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has appeared in Modern Healthcare, Crain's Chicago Business and The Detroit News. She joined TriMed in 2016.