‘Make every image count’: Opportunistic cardiovascular screening in the Safe Hearts Plan
Jack Parker, Mayke Oostveen, Tatum Jackson‘Make every image count’: Opportunistic cardiovascular screening in the Safe Hearts Plan
The EU’s Safe Hearts Plan aims to expand cardiovascular screening, but a declining radiology workforce presents a major challenge. This article explores how opportunistic screening could help make every medical image count, embedding radiological imaging across prevention, early detection and treatment. Published in December 2025, the Safe Hearts Plan is the European Commission’s first comprehensive strategy to expand cardiovascular (CV) screening across EU health systems. (1) The European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR) launched a policy briefing urging that radiological imaging be embedded throughout the Plan’s implementation, from prevention and early detection to treatment planning and long-term monitoring.(2) Yet the EU faces a workforce constraint: a declining radiologist population (3) that limits how far CV scanning can expand.