P1-497 Support and administration of the multi-site global health initiative program of combating non-communicable chronic cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases in developing Countries

• Published in: Journal of epidemiology and community health (1979) Vol. 65; no. Suppl 1; p. A204
• Main Authors: Qian, H Z, Dianis, R N N, Wolbach, T, Bolognese, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01-08-2011; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Developing countries; Global health; Health policy; Health promotion; LDCs; Risk factors; Training; USA; Bangladesh; China, People's Rep; Mexico; South Africa; India, Delhi, New Delhi; Kenya; Peru; Tunisia
• ISSN: 0143-005X; 1470-2738
• DOI: 10.1136/jech.2011.142976g.85

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) teamed with United Health Group's Chronic Disease Initiative (CDI) to reduce the burden of noncommunicable cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases (CVPD) by building research and training capacities at 11 emerging Centers of Excellence (COEs) in Argentina, Bangladesh, China, Guatemala, India (Bangalore), India (New Delhi), Kenya, Peru, South Africa, Tunisia and the USA Mexico Border. To support diverse program needs and provide logistical expertise, Westat Company serves as the administrative coordinating center (ACC) for NHLBI's Global Health Initiative (GHI). Maintaining a global network poses challenges at the country and international levels, but is an opportunity for COEs to share their experiences and consider future collaborations to minimise redundancies in effort. The ACC manages these global discussions by identifying communication options suited to each country's technological capabilities. The ACC also organises semi-annual network meetings; reviews site establishment, protocol registration, human subjects protection (HSP) and good clinical practice (GCP) training documents; collects data to track program achievements; and maintains a web site to post documents, announcements and discussion forums. COEs are currently conducting research activities to classify, quantify, reduce and/or prevent risk factors associated with noncommunicable, chronic CVPD. While the research activities are designed to address local needs, the findings should also influence global health policy. We will present the experiences of providing administrative, operational, or technical assistance to the research and training activities of these COEs, and describe the high impact projects-in-progress at the COEs and the ACC.