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The Dhaka Call to Action to accelerate the control of cardiovascular diseases in South-East Asia

Nature Medicine volume 30, pages 19–20 (2024)Cite this article

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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a substantial health burden in the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region, accounting for 3.9 million annual deaths, which amounts to 30% of deaths due to all causes in 2021. Alarmingly, almost half of these deaths are prematurely occurring in people aged 30–69 years1. Key risk factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, raised blood pressure and raised blood glucose levels contribute to the high morbidity and mortality rates of CVD.

In the South-East Asia Region, more than 245 million people aged 30 years and above have hypertension, and approximately 100 million adults are living with diabetes. It is estimated that nearly half of those living with hypertension and diabetes are unaware of their conditions2.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank participants in the Workshop for Implementing the WHO South-East Asia NCD Roadmap, 2022–2030, 12–15 June 2023, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for providing valuable inputs in drafting the Dhaka Call to Action and calling upon national governments, health service providers, non-state actors and developmental partners to undertake actions as appropriate to their constituencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. WHO South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India

    Pradeep Joshi, Angela De Silva, Jagdish Kaur, Nalika Gunawardena & Cherian Varghese

  2. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Mohammad Robed Amin

  3. WHO Country Office, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Farzana Akter Dorin

  4. Ministry of Health, Thimpu, Bhutan

    Laigden Dzed

  5. WHO Country Office, Bhutan, Thimpu, Bhutan

    Pema Lethro

  6. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, India

    Sunny Swarnkar

  7. WHO Country Office, India, New Delhi, India

    Yutaro Setoya

  8. Directorate of Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, Ministry of Health, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Eva Susanti

  9. WHO Country Office, Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Lubna Bhatti

  10. Ministry of Health, Malé, Republic of Maldives

    Hassan Mohamed

  11. WHO Country Office, Maldives, Malé, Republic of Maldives

    Fathimath Hudha

  12. WHO Country Office, Myanmar, Yangon, Myanmar

    Dinesh Jeyakumaran

  13. Ministry of Health and Population, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Phanindra Prasad Baral

  14. WHO Country Office, Nepal, Lalitpur, Nepal

    Gampo Dorji

  15. Ministry of Health, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    S. Sridharan

  16. WHO Country Office, Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Farrukh Qureshi

  17. Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand

    Krisada Hanbunjerd

  18. WHO Country Office, Thailand, Nonthaburi, Thailand

    Olivia Corazon Nieveras

  19. Ministry of Health, Dili, Timor-Leste

    Helder J. N. da Silva

  20. WHO Country Office, Timor Leste, Dili, Timor-Leste

    Leoneto Pinto

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  1. Pradeep Joshi
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  19. Helder J. N. da Silva
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  20. Leoneto Pinto
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  21. Angela De Silva
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  22. Jagdish Kaur
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  23. Nalika Gunawardena
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  24. Cherian Varghese
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pradeep Joshi.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Joshi, P., Amin, M.R., Dorin, F.A. et al. The Dhaka Call to Action to accelerate the control of cardiovascular diseases in South-East Asia. Nat Med 30, 19–20 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02678-w

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