Ho Chi Minh City Communities for Healthy Hearts

Program objectives Financing non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and care is challenging for countries like Vietnam which are often under-

resourced and overwhelmed by the continuing battle against infectious diseases. The Ho Chi Minh City Communities for Healthy Hearts

program is an innovative healthcare delivery model designed to improve hypertension management and control.

Communities for Healthy Hearts is a two-year program and is active in four districts in Ho Chi Minh City, covering a population

of approximately two million people. The program uses innovative partnerships to explore new solutions for improving access to

hypertension screening and treatment services, particularly for those living in low-income households.

A cross-sectoral approach, including government, social enterprise, public and private health sectors, community and academia, seeks

to provide new options for screening, treatment, management and follow up. Learnings from the program will be evaluated to inform the

scale up of hypertension control initiatives in Vietnam.

© Novartis Foundation 2016

• Increase awareness, patient-engagement and demand for screening and self-management of

hypertension.

• Increase quality and availability of patient-centered services for hypertension, reflecting the full

continuum of care (prevention, early detection, treatment and follow up) both at public and private

facilities.

• Reduce loss to follow up by strengthening referral systems, empowering patients with tools for self-

monitoring and managing their hypertension care.

• Enable country-level decision makers to translate evidence generated by the program into policy and

scale up the patient-centered model to improve hypertension control in Vietnam.

How it works The Novartis Foundation is collaborating on Communities for Healthy Hearts with PATH and the Ho Chi Minh City Provincial Health

Department. The Hanoi School of Public Health will evaluate the program’s overall effectiveness.

The program objectives for Communities for Healthy Hearts are:

NCDs and the dual burden of disease The Novartis Foundation is a philanthropic organization pioneering innovative healthcare models that have a transformational impact on the health of the poorest populations.

For many years, health systems in low- and middle-income countries have been overburdened trying to cope with infectious diseases like malaria, leprosy and HIV. Now, rapid urbanization, aging populations and modern lifestyles have changed the health needs of the world’s poorest communities.

Health systems in these countries are now also battling unprecedented increases in non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. This has led to what is known as the dual burden of disease.

The Novartis Foundation is leading the way in finding solutions to meet this challenge, working with partners in both urban and rural communities.

© Novartis Foundation 2016

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Communities for Healthy Hearts aims to create a sense of urgency around tackling hypertension by increasing awareness of its

debilitating effects, ‘silent’ nature (i.e. lack of symptoms), modifiable risk factors and the importance of screening.

The program also seeks to introduce social enterprises to help meet the challenge of hypertension care and management in Ho Chi Minh

City, with the goal of increasing the number of access points for cardiovascular health education and screening services. Digital health

technology will also empower patients to self-manage and increase patient-to-provider contact.

• Communities for Healthy Hearts was launched by the Novartis Foundation in Vietnam in May 2016.

• Nearly 25% of the adult population in Vietnam has hypertension but only about 50% are aware of their

condition.

• Of those diagnosed with hypertension, only 11% have it under control.

• The prevalence of hypertension is higher in urban areas at 33%.

• Ho Chi Minh City is home to the largest urban population in Vietnam, estimated at 8.2 million people.

• More than 9.4 million people are estimated to die from hypertension and high blood pressure globally

every year.