How Collaboration and Early Detection Can Move the Needle in Cardiovascular Disease

People often ask me what drove me into the private sector and to pharma, and I’ve had time to reflect on my unconventional entry to the industry – which in many ways started in Africa. Early in my career, I worked across many countries in Africa on some of the most pernicious diseases of our time – like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. I worked on improving treatment access and trying to find ways to increase the number of qualified health workers to provide care. It was during those early years of my career that I saw the impact innovation can have in diseases of massive scale that affect large populations.

Given my personal history, I was excited at the opportunity to return to Africa on a recent trip with the Novartis Foundation, as a member of their Board of Trustees. One of the most inspiring parts of the trip, which made me reminiscent of the early years I spent in Africa, occurred in Ghana – where the Novartis Foundation and several of our partners are working to bring innovative approaches and thinking to another area of mass scale and unmet need – cardiovascular disease. More than 80% of cardiovascular deaths occur in low and middle-income countries (LLMICs) – but the disease continues to be one of the more underestimated threats to the African population.

While in Ghana, my colleagues and I met with program officers from the Community-based Hypertension Improvement Project (ComHIP), an innovative healthcare model designed to improve hypertension management and control. ComHIP is a collaborative effort between the Novartis Foundation, the nonprofit human development organization FHI 360, Ghana Health Service, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Ghana School of Public Health and VOTO Mobile which works to address one of the biggest challenges at the heart of the cardiovascular disease problem – access to screenings for hypertension. As recommended by the National Academy of Medicine in its Global Health report, early detection and treatment of hypertension is crucial for addressing cardiovascular disease at the country-level. But without the tools and trained field staff to drive those regular screenings in more rural areas, cardiovascular disease is reaching a critical point in Africa. ComHIP tackles this problem head-on by offering hypertension screening in local pharmacies, meaning it’s often more accessible for people than hospitals. While in the area, I was even able to get screened myself through their simple but highly effective process.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to see this work firsthand, alongside renowned public health physician Dr. Peter Lamptey who’s dedicated much of his career to HIV/AIDS and more recently hypertension and bringing better medical care to the developing world. Taking on a public health challenge like cardiovascular disease – which according to the WHO is the number 1 cause of death globally – is daunting, even in areas where access to care and treatment is optimal. However, the collaboration at the core of efforts like ComHIP, and the dedication of all those involved gives us reason to be optimistic – and to partner to pursue innovative, scalable solutions to problems of any magnitude.