The NHLBI Expands Global Health Initiative

I am pleased to update you on the expansion of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI’s) Global Health Initiative, an effort to further the Institute’s engagement in global health issues by working to prevent chronic disease worldwide. This initiative builds upon our commitment to provide international leadership through research, training, and education, as described in the NHLBI Strategic Plan.

Chronic diseases know no boundaries, and data show that they are affecting the young and the elderly, the rich and the poor, and every ethnic group across the world. To address this growing global burden, the NHLBI is joining in two collaborative efforts to counter chronic disease: the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases and the “UnitedHealth and NHLBI Collaborating Centers of Excellence.”

The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases is a public-private partnership composed of national health agencies, which together represent about 80 percent of all public research funding in the world. The formation of this alliance brings to fruition a global commitment to increase the resources and attention to chronic noncommunicable diseases, which are causing a growing rate of illness, disability, and premature death around the world. View a photo of the alliance signatories.

Additionally, the NHLBI is awarding 10 contracts totaling more than $34 million and joining with the UnitedHealth Group’s Chronic Disease Initiative to form “UnitedHealth and NHLBI Collaborating Centers of Excellence.” Each Center of Excellence is led by a research institution in a low- or middle-income developing country paired with at least one partnering academic institution in a developed country to enhance research and training opportunities. This worldwide, collaborating network of research and training centers will build institutional and community capacity to prevent and control chronic diseases.

We look forward to continuing to work with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to forge collaborative research activities and foster a sustainable and significant reduction of illness, disability, and death due to chronic diseases. Together, we can make more efficient advances in heart, lung, and blood diseases – and help people around the world to live longer, healthier lives.

For more information for the NHLBI’s Global Health Initiative, please visit: http://www.globalhealth.nhlbi.nih.gov.