• The president of the Spanish Centre for Cardiovascular Research and director of the Cardiovascular Institute at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, warned of the economic and social risks of unhealthy lifestyles.
• More than 150 people participated in the third edition of the forum, which on this occasion was devoted to medical research, the future of cardiovascular medicine and ongoing projects to promote good health
• The event concluded with a talk by Alberto Durán, vice-president of the ONCE, on the Inredis project

Madrid, 8th February 2008.- Yesterday, Vodafone Spain held the third edition of its Innovation Forum. On this occasion, the subject of debate was the relationship between health and innovation, and it was attended by Valentín Fuster, president of the Spanish Centre for Cardiovascular Research and director of the Cardiovascular Institute at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and the vice-president of the ONCE, Alberto Durán.

The Forum was also attended by Francisco Román, president and CEO of Vodafone Spain, José Luis Ripoll, president of the Vodafone Foundation, Antonio Aleman, General Manager of the Corporate Business Unit at Vodafone and the journalist Manuel Campo Vidal, who moderated an informal discussion on health, the heart and a healthy lifestyle.

The event, held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Madrid, brought together over 150 professionals, who attended the initial presentation by Valentín Fúster and the subsequent discussion, where it was possible to ask him any questions and queries which had arisen concerning a healthy lifestyle and the future of cardiovascular medicine.

Cardiovascular disease as the primary cause of mortality in the world
Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of mortality in the world and studies show that the number of cases will increase by 250% in the next 40 years, principally due to obesity.

Valentin Fuster emphasised the challenges facing medicine, not only from an academic but also from a clinical, epidemiological and even economic point of view. In the United States alone, the cost of treatments used to combat cardiovascular disease already amounts to 368 billion dollars, an unattainable budget for many developing countries. For this reason, economists are already highlighting health research and innovation as a key factor for promoting good health worldwide.

As president of the Spanish Centre for Cardiovascular Research, Valentín Fuster stressed that young people are the future and he highlighted the support that is already being offered to them through different research grants. One of the main projects currently in progress in Latin America emphasises the fundamental relationship between education and prevention, and seeks to convey to over 6000 children aged between five and ten years, the importance of maintaining healthy lifestyles.

The ONCE and the Inredis project
At the end of the talk by Valentín Fuster, the vice-president of the ONCE, Alberto Durán, presented the Inredis Project, an initiative that seeks to facilitate disabled people’s access to the Information Society which is managed through a business consortium featuring, amongst other companies, Vodafone.

The Inredis project (Interfaces for Relations between the Environment and People with Disabilities) will ensure that disabled people participate in the development of new products and the adaptation of existing ones.

For further information, please contact:

Vodafone Corporate Communications
Carmen de Alvear
610514334
Carmen.alvear@vodafone.com