World Heart Day 2025: Date, Theme, and History

Max Lab

Updated on: Sep 22, 2025

“The heart is the engine of life. Take care of it.”

- Dr Valentin Fuster

World Heart Day is celebrated on 29 September annually. World Heart Day aims to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases, their risk factors, and strategies for prevention. Also known as International Heart Day, this is a global initiative that encourages people to follow a heart-healthy lifestyle through proactive campaigns, education, and community events. Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of mortality in the world, which is why the initiative highlights how crucial cardiovascular well-being is.

World Heart Day 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the initiative, and even today, the initiative looks towards individuals, communities, and governments, reminding them to take proactive steps for the prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases.

About Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of health disorders that affect the heart and blood vessels. Coronary heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease are all CVDs. Over four out of every five cardiovascular deaths are caused by strokes and heart attacks, and almost a third of these are premature deaths, where individuals were less than 70 years of age. There are several behavioural and environmental factors that can increase the risk of CVDs. In environmental risk factors, air pollution is a major contributor. The most common behavioural risk factors include physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, and tobacco use. The effects of these risk factors may lead to raised blood pressure, blood lipids, blood glucose, and obesity.

Key Facts about Cardiovascular Diseases

• Globally, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death.
• 32% of the global deaths in 2022 were because of cardiovascular diseases, which is roughly 19.8 million people.
• 75% of cardiovascular deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
• In 2021, there were 18 million premature deaths caused by non-communicable diseases. Of these, at least 38% were caused by cardiovascular diseases.
• For treating cardiovascular diseases, it is crucial to start managing them with medication and counselling as soon as possible. This is why early detection of cardiovascular diseases is of prime importance.
• Most cardiovascular diseases are easy to prevent, simply by addressing environmental and behavioural risk factors, like poor diet, obesity, tobacco use, air pollution, and physical inactivity.
• Up to 80% of premature cardiovascular deaths can be prevented through lifestyle changes, access to medical care, and early screening.

The History of World Heart Day

During his tenure as the President of the World Heart Federation (1997-1999), renowned cardiologist Dr Antoni Bayés de Luna was the first one to propose the concept of World Heart Day. Consultations were held with the global network of members and partners of the World Heart Federation (WHF), and towards the end of 1998, it was agreed that the International Heart Day would be observed on the last Sunday of September every year.

The launch of the first official campaign was strategically aligned with the Sydney Olympic Games and took place under the patronage of then-President of the International Olympic Committee, Her Majesty Queen Sophia of Spain and Juan Antonio Samaranch, in September 2000. The very first World Heart Day theme was “Let it Beat”, which celebrated the importance of physical activity for good heart health.

While the initial plan was to celebrate World Heart Day every year on the last Sunday of September, since 2011, World Heart Day is celebrated on a fixed date, 29 September, which has further helped strengthen the identity and global recognition of the initiative.

Key Milestones in the Timeline of World Heart Day

• 24 September 2000: The first World Heart Day was celebrated.
   
• 2001 to 2004: Broadening the message to cover women and children as well.
   
• Late 2000s: Global expansion.
   
• 2011: 29 September was established as the fixed date for World Heart Day.
   
• 2011 to 2017: Community empowerment, with the private sector, civil societies, health ministries, and national heart organisations, helped increase engagement.
   
• 2018 to 2019: Started encouraging individuals to become Heart Heroes and make personal promises to exercise more, eat healthy, quit smoking, and help others do the same.
   
• 2020: Responding to pandemic-related gaps in health, the “Use Heart” series was launched. The theme, “Use Heart to Beat CVD”, underscored the importance of using knowledge, compassion, and digital tools to maintain heart health during trying times.
   
• 2021: The theme of World Heart Day 2021 was “Use Heart to Connect”, which emphasised social connections and digital health.
   
• 2022: The theme, “Use Heart for Every Heart”, advocated equity and called for heart-healthy environments and accessible heart care.
   
• 2024 Onwards: The focus of the initiative shifted from awareness to action, marking a new phase for World Heart Day.

The Rising Impact of World Heart Day (2020-2024)

International Heart Day has grown exponentially between 2020 and 2024, in terms of reach, scope, and influence. Today, World Heart Day is one of the most impactful global health campaigns that focuses on CVD awareness. In 2020, more than 35,000 resources were downloaded, and the campaign engaged around 72 million people through social media. By 2021, member activations increased to 91 and social media reach underwent an exponential surge, reaching over 1 billion people, marking a major scale and engagement expansion. The campaign continued growing steadily in 2022 and 2023, with resource downloads remaining high, member activations increasing from 106 in 2022 to 115 the next year, and reach increasing up to 1.27 billion people in 2023.

In 2024, World Heart Day reached more than 1.1 billion people, drove over 1.15 million website visits, sustaining its momentum from the preceding years, and had the highest to date member activations, which reached 124. On 29 September, World Heart Day culminated with more than 30,000 signatures on the petition demanding more robust cardiovascular health policies.

Starting as an awareness event, World Heart Day has transformed into a powerful global movement that drives advocacy, education, and action against CVDs.

World Heart Day 2025

From 2024 to 2026, International Heart Day will be campaigning under the theme of “Use Heart for Action” to support individuals in caring for their hearts. The action is deliberate and marks a shift in focus from awareness to empowerment, with clear goals and purposes.

The theme for World Heart Day 2025 is “Don’t Miss a Beat”, which reminds everyone that every heartbeat matters and highlights how CVDs impact individuals and families across the world. Many cardiovascular deaths are preventable through awareness and early action, and the 2025 World Heart Day theme serves as a powerful reminder for the same. It urges people to prioritise heart health, adopt heart-healthy habits, make informed lifestyle choices, and take timely action to prevent heart disease and stroke.

The global petition under World Heart Day 2025 is asking for a commitment from world leaders and governments to act now, and help around 500 million more people receive the treatment they need by 2030 and to create a dedicated action plan surrounding cardiovascular health. The initiative demands action to save lives and build a healthier future.

How to Get Involved

“Keep the Beat” – Every heartbeat matters, and this World Heart Day, you can inspire action with a challenge for yourself, where you put in at least 25 minutes of movement every day in September. Apart from this, here’s what you can do to become a part of this initiative:

• Host or attend events, local health fairs, seminars, or screenings for spreading awareness of cardiovascular health and strategies for the prevention of CVDs.
• Share heart health tips, CVD facts, and World Heart Day updates using relevant hashtags on social media to spread the word.
• Take a pledge to adopt a healthier lifestyle and heart-healthy habits, like quitting smoking, reducing alcohol consumption, and eating a balanced diet.

The Importance of International Heart Day in Preventing Heart Diseases

World Heart Day plays a crucial role in educating the public about cardiovascular risks and in promoting changes that take place at both the individual and community levels. The importance of World Heart Day can be seen in its ability to:

• Raise Awareness: World Heart Day campaigns reach billions of people across the world to raise mass awareness of heart diseases and highlight the severity and scale of CVDs.
   
• Encourage Early Detection: Public events under this initiative often also offer free heart health checkups, which promotes the importance of early screening and timely diagnoses.
   
• Inspire Policymakers and Governments: Large-scale advocacy can play a significant role in shaping health policies that improve access to cardiovascular care and cardiac treatment.
   
• Motivate Individuals: World Heart Day encourages people to adopt healthier lifestyles and provides information required about lifestyle modifications and heart-healthy habits to empower people to take charge of their cardiovascular health.

World Heart Day is an important global event that stresses the significance of cardiovascular health, bringing together communities, physicians, and individuals. World Heart Day 2025 is a reminder for everyone to stay informed, embrace a heart-healthy lifestyle, and ensure proactiveness in cardiovascular care.