[The new ESC guidelines 2021 on prevention of cardiovascular diseases : Appeal for prevention].

This article summarizes the innovations and most important points of the recently published and updated ESC guidelines 2021 on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Developments in risk stratification and further developments with respect to targets and options for the treatment of risk factors necessitated an update of the guidelines from 2016. The innovations incorporate a staged and individualized approach to the prevention targets, an implementation of the systematic coronary risk evaluation 2 (SCORE 2 update) and the SCORE 2‑older persons (OP) systems on risk stratification, including age-dependent estimations for young (<50 years old) and older people (≥70 years old) as well as for patients with diabetes mellitus and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, specific recommendations are given for coronary heart disease, heart failure and chronic kidney insufficiency. In addition to recommendations on individualized treatment, the relevance of cardiovascular prevention at the population level, including environmental protection is underlined.