What is hypertension?
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, affects 1.13 billion people worldwide. The condition disproportionately affects people living low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), where two thirds of all cases are found. Risk factors in these countries have been increasing in recent years, including increased salt intake, obesity, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity.
Being a major contributor to the growing global pandemic of cardiovascular disease and stroke, hypertension is a longstanding priority area for GACD. Our first ever call in 2011 focused on hypertension research in LMICs as well as with indigenous populations in Canada and Australia. We also included hypertension in our fifth call for applications to ‘scale up’ research in the areas of hypertension or diabetes. These calls combined have funded 37 projects across the world.
How is our research helping?
Our latest studies tackling scale up of hypertension interventions, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute are:
The NASS Study, led by Dr Dike Ojji and Dr Mark Huffman, is evaluating the implementation and scale-up of Nigeria’s national salt reduction programme to reduce hypertension – which affects nearly half of all adults in Nigeria. The research team aim to enrol over 8,000 people in the six-year study and will measure changes in salt reduction, dietary intake, and people’s knowledge about the harms of salt. To learn more about the effect of salt on blood pressure, read Associate Registered Nutritionist Sheree Folkes’ blog here.
In the CATCH Study, researchers from Colombia, Jamaica, and the US are testing the implementation and effectiveness outcomes of a team-based care strategy for blood pressure control in Colombia and Jamaica. The first aim is to test the reach, effectiveness, adoption, fidelity, and sustainability of implementing the intervention in a randomised trial. The second aim is to assess barriers and implementation outcomes of scaling up the intervention more widely.
The ANDES Study is addressing hypertension in a vulnerable population indigenous to the Andes. The first phase will undertake a formal adaptation process of two hypertension strategies, and the second phase will pilot these adapted interventions using a randomised trial.
To find out more about all GACD hypertension projects, click here.