To improve cardiovascular health in cities, sectors need to work together.

Better Hearts Better Cities seeks to improve the control of hypertension as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in low-income urban communities by using a multisector, multidisciplinary approach.

LOCALGOVERNMENTS

FOOD SUPPLIERS

SOCIALENTERPRISES

DIGITAL AND TELECOMMUNICATION ORGANIZATIONS

INSURANCE FUNDS

EMPLOYERS

CIVIL SOCIETIES

Better Hearts Better Cities will take a multisector, multidisciplinary approach to address hypertension and its risk factors by: Strengthening health systems and innovating care provision Encouraging physical exercise through smart city design and urban planning Creating a healthy food environment for the city populations Establishing policies to encourage smoking cessation and reduce

alcohol consumption Improving air quality and addressing other environmental factors

Around the world, rapid urbanization has changed how low-income urban communities are impacted by disease. Over 50% of the world’s population now lives in urban areas1

People living in cities increasingly lead lifestyles characterized by unhealthy nutrition, reduced physical activity, stress, and

excessive alcohol and tobacco consumption: all risk factors for cardiovascular disease

80% of cardiovascular deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries2

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and disproportionately affects low-income urban communities

Hypertension is poorly controlled in low-income urban communities

Better Hearts Better Cities

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Website www.novartisfoundation.orgTwitter @NovartisFDNYouTube youtube.com/novartisfoundationLinkedIn linkedin.com/company/novartis-foundation

The Novartis Foundation is a philanthropic organization which strives to have sustainable impact on the health of low-income communities through a combination of programmatic work, health outcomes research, and its translation into policy to address global health challenges.

USA3

Mongolia4

Senegal5

1 World Health Organization. Global Report on Urban Health. http://www.who.int/kobe_centre/measuring/urban-global-report/ugr_summary.pdf?ua=1 Accessed April 2017.2 �E.�Bloom,�E.T.�Cafiero,�E.�Jané-Llopis,�et�al.�The�Global�Economic�Burden�of�Noncommunicable�Diseases�World�Economic�Forum,�Geneva,�Switzerland�(2011)3 ��Joffres�M,�Falaschetti�E,�Gillespie�C,�et�al.�Hypertension�prevalence,�awareness,�treatment�and�control�in�national�surveys�from�England,�the�USA�and�Canada,�and�correlation�with�stroke�and�ischaemic�heart�disease�mortality:�a�cross-sectional�study. �BMJ�Open�2013;3:e003423.�doi:�10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003423

4 WHO�STEPS�survey,�Mongolia �20135 WHO STEPS survey, Senegal 2015

Initially, Better Hearts Better Cities will demonstrate the approach in Ulaanbaatar�(Mongolia)�and�Dakar�(Senegal).�A�third�city�will�follow in Brazil later in 2017.

Better Hearts Better Cities will initially focus on tackling hypertension, but the ultimate goal is to identify a scalable approach that is replicable in other cities and for other non-communicable diseases.