Hypertension detection, treatment, and control in Colombia and Malaysia

The award

The HOPE-4 study was a randomised controlled trial funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Stroke Network (CSN), Grand Challenges Canada (GCC), and International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

It evaluated whether a community-based intervention package delivered by health workers (mostly non-physicians) could improve hypertension control and reduce overall CVD risk after one year.

The study team spanned 4 countries – Canada, Colombia, the UK and Malaysia – with the primary research conducted in Colombia and Malaysia.

Key findings

The HOPE-4 intervention substantially reduced cardiovascular risk and improved blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well as adherence to medication. The intervention has also been successfully adapted and piloted in a high-income setting – Canada – with promising results. This suggests that the intervention could be similarly adapted for other settings.

With that consideration, the HOPE-4 curriculum has been adapted for WHO’s HEARTS Technical Package policy document which offers a set of effective and practical interventions to help manage cardiovascular risk factors in primary care. This inclusion is likely to encourage uptake of the HOPE4 package internationally, potentially contributing to decreasing the burden of hypertension and CVD worldwide.

Full case study: Hypertension detection, treatment, and control in two middle income countries