Turning The Tide
Although many incidents of chronic disease can be effectively and inexpensively prevented with basic interventions, public health strategies and evidence-based risk factor intervention programs are needed to insure that these interventions reach the individuals most at risk. Without these programs, cardiovascular disease will continue to proliferate, claiming thousands of cumulative years of healthy life and billions of dollars over the next decade. This risk can be averted, but failure to take action now will have a catastrophic impact on the health and economy of developing nations.
Until recently, cardiovascular disease has been largely absent from the international consciousness, overshadowed by public health concerns about HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. As a result, the battle against global cardiovascular disease is severely underresourced.
The WHO has now called for a global partnership of nationwide public health campaigns and high-risk intervention strategies against cardiovascular disease. This comprehensive project relies on organizations like ICHA to implement and monitor risk factor intervention systems, establishing evidence-based guidelines and a sustainable infrastructure to bring these programs to the communities that need them most.