GACD members fund landmark research to reduce impact of hypertension

In June 2011 the UCL Institute for Global Health was selected to host the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) Secretariat , working to curb chronic diseases such as stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease and heart disease throughout the world. Today the GACD has announced that four of its member organisations will fund research projects on hypertension (high blood pressure) prevention and control in 15 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The first coordinated funding effort among GACD members, this initiative includes 14 community-based research projects that will focus on implementing effective approaches to control high blood pressure. The projects represent an investment of more than £14 million over three to five years and were announced by Francis Collins, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). "This collaboration is significant in scope and critical to addressing the growing global epidemic of chronic noncommunicable diseases," said Susan B. Shurin, GACD chair, and acting director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "By working together, the GACD funding organisations have an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate implementation strategies, leverage multiple research investments to provide evidence to guide policy, and ultimately stem the tide of deaths from chronic noncommunicable diseases." - This collaboration is significant in scope and critical to addressing the growing global epidemic of chronic noncommunicable diseases.