RESOLVE: A New Initiative To Prevent Death From Heart Disease And Stroke
Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are joining forces with the ambitious goal of preventing 100 million deaths from heart disease and stroke – the leading causes of death in the world – over the next three decades.
The Resolve initiative, led by Tom Frieden, M.D., former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as former commissioner of the New York City Health Department, will focus on bringing action on a scale large enough to make a difference in key areas.
Tom Frieden and MichaelBloomberg, who co-authored the editorial announcement of this initiative in The Lancet health journal, indicated that “in addition to tobacco control, there are three specific interventions that can substantially reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease and be implemented now”:
- Eliminating artificial trans-fat from foods
- Reducing dietary sodium reduction intake by 30 percent
- Increasing global control of blood pressure from the current 14percent to of people with high blood pressure to 50 percent
“If the world is able to increase our blood pressure control rate from the current 14 percent to 50 percent, reduce dietary sodium by 30 percent and get to zero trans-fats, we can save 100 million lives from cardiovascular disease over the next 30 years,” Frieden further indicated.
Resolve, the name of this worthy initiative points to the determination of these leading philanthropists to prevent deaths from heart disease and stroke – and to the counterpart intention needed to do our part to be healthy.
