Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), particularly hypertension, are devastating public health crises and the leading cause of deaths in Africa. Despite having the highest prevalence of hypertension (46% of adults, over 250 million people), control rates remain abysmally low, with 93% of cases uncontrolled. This has resulted in massive disabling strokes (6 Africans/minute), which decimate the workforce. Over the past three decades, little progress has been made in hypertension control in Africa, despite several interventions.

The University of Ibadan has led the co-creation of a more effective multisectoral intervention package targeted at controlling hypertension and other CVDs in Africa. The tailored WHO-HEARTS package enhances CVD management, focusing on hypertension control at the primary health care (PHC) level. Researchers from the University of Ibadan, with support from NGOs, WHO, and Ministries of Health, established a consortium in 2023 and set targets to control CVDs in Africa. So far, approximately 380,000 people have been treated with improved hypertension control rates.

Moreover, University of Ibadan researchers developed a scalable intervention (Afrocentric Stroke-Risk Calculator mobile phone app and video cartoon), which significantly improved hypertension and overall stroke risk factor control. The goal of this proposal is to combine the app and the WHO-HEARTS package to accelerate the control of hypertension in half of those affected by 2030.which significantly improved hypertension and overall stroke risk factor control.14-16 The goal of this proposal is to combine the app and the WHO-HEARTS package to accelerate the control of hypertension in half of those affected by 2030.2, 3, 17 Using a multidisciplinary multi-SDG whole-of-society approach to improve the control of CVDs in 250 million people will substantially reduce related deaths and facilitate sustainable development in Africa