Our goals are to save 100 million lives from cardiovascular disease and to prevent epidemics.
Urging the food industry to stop use of deadly trans fat by 2023
We joined American Heart Association, NCD Alliance, and World Heart Federation to call on 41 of major food, fat, and oil industry players to commit to trans fat elimination by 2023.
Call for healthy food procurement proposals!
Resolve to Save Lives and Vital Strategies are looking to partner with city, state/provincial, or national governments to develop, implement, and evaluate healthy food public procurement policies. More information here.
The good, the bad, and the ugly in global health in 2019
2019 saw both big advances and big setbacks for global health, President and CEO Dr. Tom Frieden writes. Can 2020 mark the start of the healthiest decade ever?
Pass less salt and when you pass it, make it potassium salt
Would allowing salts in which some sodium has been replaced with potassium to be called “potassium salts” increase uptake in the US? President and CEO Dr. Thomas Frieden argues that it would, urging the FDA to change labelling regulations to make these heart-healthier salts more appealing to consumers.
Brazil passes best practice trans fat limits
The world’s fifth largest country announced regulations limiting the amount of artificial trans fat in the Brazilian food supply. Implementation will begin on July 1, 2021 and will culminate in a complete ban of partially hydrogenated oils effective January 1, 2023, in line with WHO’s target for global trans fat elimination. With support from our partner GHAI, the Brazilian Association of Nutrition (Asbran) built a strong coalition of advocates, engaged political decision-makers, and leveraged media to create a sense of urgency around the need for trans fat elimination.
Call for submissions:Epidemics that Didn’t Happen 2019
We’re developing a report featuring case studies from around the world that showcase how strong epidemic preparedness stopped outbreaks in 2019. Have a case we should feature? Submit a short summary here by December 20th, or learn more here.
Leveraging World Bank Funding for Epidemic Preparedness
We worked with leaders from the ministries of health, agriculture, environment, and finance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at a project management bootcamp, aligning priorities to step up epidemic preparedness and leverage funds from the World Bank's $150M REDISSE IV program.
LINKS grants for heart health in 18 countries
LINKScommunity.org announced the recipients of USD 2.3 million in grants to improve blood pressure control, reduce salt intake, and eliminate trans fat. Read more about the grantees here.
Writing skills for CVH research
We supported Centers for Disease Control with a scientific writing workshop for early-career professionals engaged in research on cardiovascular health.
PreventEpidemics.org Launches in French
We launched a French-language version of PreventEpidemics.org, expanding the site’s audience to include Francophone journalists, advocates, and decision-makers.
The Story of the Simple app in India
In the year since the Simple app first launched, health workers like Bupinderjeet have used it to manage the blood pressure of more than 130,000 patients in almost 400 in clinics Punjab and Maharashtra. Learn more about Bupinderjeet’s story in this video.
Controlling Hypertension: A Pathfinder for Universal Health Coverage
LINKS hosted a live discussion on how hypertension care can pave the way for Universal Health Coverage
Lessons from Expanding Global Blood Pressure Control
We published an article in The Journal of Clinical Hypertension on what we've learned from our first two years of work to expand treatment of high blood pressure around the world.
Community Outreach to Reduce Salt
In Shandong and Anhui Provinces, China, community engagement activities supporting the Love with Less Salt media campaign help reinforce the message that too much salt has harmful consequences.
First-of-its-kind Salt Reduction Campaign Launches in China
“Love with Less Salt,” the first public service announcement to dramatically depict the dangers of the high salt diet common in China, debuted on Chinese state television and in Anhui and Shandong provinces. Watch the video
Protecting the world from infectious disease threats: now or never
We published an editorial in The BMJ arguing for the urgency of filling the emergency preparedness gaps diagnosed by the Joint External Evaluation.
Uganda Debuts First National Action Plan for Health Security
The government of Uganda launched its first National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) with the support of the Infectious Disease Institut"
Liberia Steps Up Commitment to Epidemic Preparedness
Liberia became one of the first countries in the world to undergo a midterm Joint External Evaluation, measuring progress made in epidemic preparedness since their first assessment in 2016.
Strengthening Outbreak Response in Nigeria
We formalized our partnership with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to continue supporting efforts including National Action Plan for Health Security implementation and lab network strengthening.
New Plan to Reduce NCDs in Nigeria Targets High Blood Pressure
In partnership with the World Health Organization, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health launched the first National Multi-sectoral Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases.
Ethiopia Launches Hypertension Program
Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health announced a new program that will bring treatment for high blood pressure to approximately 3 million people.
Expanding Blood Pressure Care in India
The Indian Council for Medical Research, World Health Organization and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare announced the nationwide expansion of the India Hypertension Control Initiative, which will treat a projected 150,000,000 patients for high blood pressure in the next four years. Read more.
WHO Endorses Simpler Drug Treatment for Blood Pressure
The World Health Organization approved an application from Resolve to Save Lives and partners to include 4 fixed-dose combinations of medicines for high blood pressure on the newest update to the Essential Medicines List. We co-authored a letter to The Lancet calling for countries to make these life-saving drugs available to patients. Read the article.
100 Joint External Evaluations Completed
We celebrated the completion of 100 Joint External Evaluations (JEEs) the gold standard in assessing how prepared countries are to find, stop and prevent epidemics. Epidemic preparedness experts explain why this is an important landmark.
Risk Communications for Epidemic Prevention
Our Prevent Epidemics team supported a WHO Risk Communication and Community Engagement Capacity Strengthening workshop with representatives from 6 countries in Abuja, Nigeria.
Training of Trainers in Ethiopia
With support from WHO and the Federal Ministry of Health, our Ethiopia team led a training of trainers on hypertension prevention and control in Addis Ababa.
Advancing Trans Fat Elimination in the Eastern Mediterranean
We teamed up with WHO and WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region to help governments in the Eastern Mediterranean identify trans fat elimination policy options that work for their national contexts and identify next steps for action.
Global Health Security 2019 Conference in Sydney
Our Prevent Epidemics team highlighted the critical role of politics and social constructs in causing—and preventing—epidemics at the Global Health Security 2019 conference in Sydney, Australia.
The Not-Flashy, Essential Part of Outbreak Preparedness and Response
When an outbreak hits, how do we immediately get the Ministry of Health, an animal health specialist, a communications expert and a laboratory sample transporter on the same page? Senior Vice President Amanda McClelland argues that program management is the key to epidemic preparedness in Global Health Now.
PreventEpidemics.org — From Data to Action
The site has a new look and new tools to help move from data to action on epidemic preparedness. Check out our new interactive maps, flight patterns displayed with the preparedness of their final destination and useful tools for advocacy.
Global Health Forum of the Boao Forum for Asia
We joined public health leaders from around the world in Qingdao, China, where we discussed how hypertension management can be a path finder for universal health coverage.
Shandong Hypertension Management Initiative
Our partners kicked off the Shandong Hypertension Management Initiative, a three year program to improve blood pressure control rates in Shandong, a province in eastern China.
There’s a limited window to make America safer from epidemics
President and CEO Dr. Tom Frieden joined Former FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg in calling on the World Bank to dedicate $1 billion per year over three years to epidemic preparedness.
How to Save 100 Million Lives Through Improved Heart Health
A new study in the journal Circulation reports nearly 100 million lives could be saved by increasing the number of people around the world treated for high blood pressure, reducing salt intake and eliminating trans fat from the global food supply.
Meet the Program Management for Epidemic Preparedness (PMEP) class
We're excited to introduce our first class of PMEP trainees — the epidemic preparedness leaders of tomorrow. Learn more about them...
Why it's time for a total ban on trans fat – the 'tobacco of nutrition'
President and CEO Dr. Tom Frieden called for action on trans fat elimination from national, regional, global, and food industry leaders in The Telegraph.
New resources in the fight against trans fat
We supported WHO to develop materials for the REPLACE action packages, including 6 practical implementation modules and the first progress report on global trans fat elimination.
World Health Assembly in Geneva
We participated in the 72nd World Health Assembly, where we highlighted the global importance of cardiovascular health and epidemic preparedness and co-hosted the launch of new WHO resources on trans fat elimination, a training for advocates of trans fat bans, and a learning lab on hypertension.
Prioritizing the Contingency Fund for health emergencies in Uganda
At a meeting on improving health security hosted by the Ministry of Health in Uganda, our team agreed to work with other legal stakeholders to prioritize the Contingencies Fund for Emergencies.
Engaging industry on trans fat elimination
Along with NCD Alliance, American Heart Association, and World Heart Federation, we added our voice to the WHO’s call for industry to replace artificial trans fat by directly calling on dozens of major food, fat, and oil industry players to commit to elimination by 2023.
Improving Ebola virus disease outbreak preparedness
Our team worked with experts in Kampala, Uganda to create a strategic plan for engaging partners in DRC and other countries at high risk for Ebola transmission.
Practical treatment protocols improve hypertension management
We published a statement with the World Hypertension League on the benefits of a practical treatment protocol for global hypertension management.
Tracking implementation of Nigeria’s National Action Plan for Health Security
We helped design and implement a free, user-friendly tool to help officials from 13 different organizations within the Nigerian government to coordinate their National Action Plan for Health Security.
Assessing Yellow Fever preparedness in Nigeria
As part of our collaboration with the National Center for Disease Control, laboratory network consultant Celestina Obiekea conducted an assessment of yellow fever diagnosis capacity in laboratories in Nigeria.
Supporting Vietnam’s national hypertension program
Members of our cardiovascular health team visited and gave feedback to health care facilities implementing the national hypertension program in Vietnam.
Salt reduction in Chinese schools
Our nutrition team traveled to China to learn about a healthy canteen initiative in primary and middle schools in Shandong province.
Program Management for Epidemic Preparedness training course begins
Our Prevent Epidemics team kicked off a 12-month certified training program for mid-level program managers working in emergency preparedness in Rwanda.
LINKS Community grant recipients announced
The first LINKS Community grant recipients were announced. Eleven countries will now save lives by better controlling blood pressure, reducing salt intake or eliminating trans fat.
Cardiovascular Health Partner Meeting
Resolve to Save Lives welcomed our cardiovascular health partners and representatives from 9 of the countries in which we work to NYC. We shared learnings from our first year and focused on strengthening our ability to effectively support rapid country progress.
Africa Health Agenda International Conference
We participated in AHAIC 2019 in Rwanda, where we met with our implementing partners and provided demos of PreventEpidemics.org to conference attendees.
Rwanda prepares for Ebola
Rwanda conducted a simulation exercise to prepare for new cases of Ebola entering the country from neighboring DRC. Read what they learned...
New voluntary salt reduction targets in Turkey
The Turkish Restaurant and Patisserie Federation agreed to reduce salt in restaurant and bakery food items, potentially making food healthier in 130,000 restaurants across the country.
Global NCD gathering in Bangkok
Tom Frieden, our President and CEO, delivered the keynote address (slides) at the Prince Mahidol Awards Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
Lessons from the field in Thailand
We visited three NCD clinics in Phitsanulok province with our Thai government colleagues and representatives from WHO Thailand.
Uganda prepares its borders for potential Ebola cases
Health screening site set up at a point of entry in Uganda as part of their Ebola preparedness effort. Our Prevent Epidemics team deployed to Uganda to support their preparedness efforts.
Momentum growing to eliminate trans fat
The NCD Alliance hosted a trans fat event at the World Congress of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Health in Dubai. The key message at the event was that trans fat can be completely replaced without changing cost or taste of food.
Highlighting the burden of untreated hypertension
We participated in the 4th WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices in India, highlighting the enormous burden of disease from untreated hypertension and the need for availability of better devices for detecting high blood pressure.
Nigeria launches action plan for health security
Nigeria launched its National Action Plan for Health Security, a five-year roadmap for coordinating and implementing systems to find, stop and prevent health threats.
Caribbean Public Health Agency improves epidemic preparedness
The agency developed an innovative monitoring, early alert and response system to quickly identify emerging diseases. Read the story here...
New partnership with Shandong province
Our China team signed a memorandum of understanding with the Shandong Provincial Health Commission to begin work on sodium reduction and hypertension control projects.
Experts agree on statement of preparedness for public health emergencies
Global health experts attended the WHO High-level Conference for Public Health Emergencies, Challenges, and Opportunities in Urban Areas in Lyon, France. A statement on preparedness (PDF) for public health emergencies was produced by the close of the meeting.
Ethiopia launches salt reduction program
We joined experts from WHO and the Ethiopian government for a workshop to kick off Ethiopia's salt reduction program.
First-of-its kind PSA launches in India
India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority launched a new campaign to support the removal of trans fat from the food supply: “Heart Attack Rewind.”
Highlighting lessons from past epidemics
1918 marks the 100th anniversary of the deadliest flu pandemic on record. Our Amanda McClelland shared lessons learned from major epidemics over the years and current preparedness efforts at a National Academies of Science event.
Global Implementing Partners
