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African Control of Hypertension through Innovative Epidemiology and a Vibrant Ecosystem (ACHIEVE): novel strategies for accelerating hypertension control in Africa

Journal of Human Hypertension (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Hypertension is a leading preventable and controllable risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and the leading preventable risk for death globally. With a prevalence of nearly 50% and 93% of cases uncontrolled, very little progress has been made in detecting, treating, and controlling hypertension in Africa over the past thirty years. We propose the African Control of Hypertension through Innovative Epidemiology and a Vibrant Ecosystem (ACHIEVE) to implement the HEARTS package for improved surveillance, prevention, treatment/acute care of hypertension, and rehabilitation of those with hypertension complications across the life course. The ecosystem will apply the principles of an iterative implementation cycle by developing and deploying pragmatic solutions through the contextualization of interventions tailored to navigate barriers and enhance facilitators to deliver maximum impact through effective communication and active participation of all stakeholders in the implementation environment. Ten key strategic actions are proposed for implementation to reduce the burden of hypertension in Africa.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2: African Control of Hypertension through Innovative Epidemiology and Vibrant Ecosystem (ACHIEVE).
Fig. 3
Fig. 4: Adoption of Hypertension Quadrangle across the Lifespan.

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Acknowledgements

This work represents the personal opinion of the author (CVV) and not that of the organization for whom they work. MOO, OMA, RA, BO, AA, APO, and FSS are supported by The National Institutes of Health grants: SIREN (U54HG007479), SIBS Genomics (R01NS107900), SIBS Gen Gen (R01NS107900‐02S1), ARISES (R01NS115944‐01), H3Africa CVD Supplement (3U24HG009780‐03S5), CaNVAS (1R01NS114045-01), Sub-Saharan Africa Conference on Stroke (SSACS) 1R13NS115395-01A1 and Training Africans to Lead and Execute Neurological Trials & Studies (TALENTS) D43TW012030. World Hypertension League.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Genomic and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Mayowa Owolabi

  2. Department of Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Mayowa Owolabi

  3. Blossom Specialist Medical Center, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Mayowa Owolabi

  4. Lebanese American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Mayowa Owolabi

  5. Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Paul Olowoyo

  6. Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Paul Olowoyo

  7. Departamento de Medicina, Universidade, Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique

    Ana Mocumbi

  8. Cardiology Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Ibadan/ University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Okechukwu S. Ogah

  9. Department of Medicine, University of Abuja, FCT, Abuja, Nigeria

    Augustine Odili

  10. Department of Medicine, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

    Kolawole Wahab

  11. Department of Medicine, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria

    Dike Ojji

  12. Department of Medicine, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria

    Dike Ojji

  13. Cardiovascular Genetics and Genomic Research Unit, Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Abiodun M. Adeoye

  14. Center for Genomic and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, University College Hospital Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Rufus Akinyemi

  15. Department of Medicine, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana

    Albert Akpalu

  16. Department of Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, Zaria, Nigeria

    Reginald Obiako

  17. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Fred S. Sarfo

  18. Kigali University Teaching Hospital, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda

    Charlotte Bavuma

  19. Physiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, International University of Africa (IUA), Khartoum, Sudan

    Hind Mamoun Beheiry

  20. Department of Cardiology, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

    Moshen Ibrahim & Wafaa El Aroussy

  21. Department of Cardiovascular Neural and Metabolic Sciences, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Milan, Italy

    Gianfranco Parati

  22. Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Gianfranco Parati

  23. Department of Internal Medicine and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Anastase Dzudie

  24. Non-Communicable Diseases, National Department of Health, Pretoria, South Africa

    Sandhya Singh

  25. Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Onoja Akpa

  26. South African Medical Research Council, Francie Van Zijl Dr, Parow Valley, Cape Town, 7501, South Africa

    Andre Pascal Kengne

  27. College of Medicine University of Ibadan, 200284, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Akinkunmi Paul Okekunle

  28. Seoul National University, 08826, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Akinkunmi Paul Okekunle

  29. Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana

    Ama de Graft Aikins

  30. Department of Public & Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Charles Agyemang

  31. New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Gbenga Ogedegbe

  32. Weill Institute for Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of California San-Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Bruce Ovbiagele

  33. Resolve To Save Lives, New York, NY, USA

    Renu Garg

  34. Department of Medicine, Physiology, and Pharmacology and Community Health Sciences, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Norman R. C. Campbell

  35. Division of Translational Neurosciences and Population Studies, Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Daniel T. Lackland

  36. World Health Organization, Inter-Country Support Team, Eastern and Southern Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Prebo Barango

  37. Department of Healthier Populations and Non-Communicable Disease, World Health Organization, South East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India

    Slim Slama & Cherian V. Varghese

  38. Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LO, USA

    Paul K. Whelton

  39. Beijing Hypertension League Institute, Beijing, China

    Xin-Hua Zhang

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  1. Mayowa Owolabi
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  34. Xin-Hua Zhang
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Contributions

PO and MO wrote the first draft. All authors edited and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mayowa Owolabi.

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NRCC is a paid consultant for Switch Health. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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The original online version of this article was revised: Due to an error in the abstract.

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Owolabi, M., Olowoyo, P., Mocumbi, A. et al. African Control of Hypertension through Innovative Epidemiology and a Vibrant Ecosystem (ACHIEVE): novel strategies for accelerating hypertension control in Africa. J Hum Hypertens (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-023-00828-8

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