Vasiliou (Bms Italia): “Cmio is a rare disease but has a significant impact”

“There hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy it is a disease that may not be very widespread in the population, but it could have a very significant impact on patients. Education and commitment to creating awareness of the symptoms, how to diagnose it and how to treat it are very important. We need to know about it because, as often happens, the sooner it is treated, the better it is for patients”. So Regina Vasiliou, general manager of Bristol Myers Squibb Italytoday in Milan, at Presentation of the national campaign ‘Make room for the heart’aimed at raising awareness among the general public about heart disease, promoted by Bms and carried out with the patronage of the patients’ association Aicarm Aps (Italian Cardiomyopathy Association), Sic (Italian Cardiology Society) and Anmco (National Association of Cardiologists).

“Bristol-Myers Squibb – continues – has always been committed to the cardiovascular sector, an area on which, in seventy years of presence in Italy, we have always worked. We have also always been very attentive to communication and education of the public and patients, even more so when it comes to pathologies such as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, ‘orphan but not rare’, as clinicians also say. In this context, and always in line with the social contribution that we wish to give, this campaign is very important. We have been working on it for a long time and we are very proud and honoured to be able to launch it with this initiative: a beautiful bench with the slogan ‘Make room for the heart’. It is an opportunity to talk about hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, to explain how it could be identified, diagnosed and treated. It is part of our social responsibility – he concludes – an aspect that is very important to us”.