Who we are

We are mission-driven and have deep technical expertise

Resolve to Save Lives was created in 2017 by Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through his work in government and with philanthropy, Dr. Frieden pinpointed a unique problem: no one is thinking about how to systematically combat the world’s leading killers. Heart disease carries the distinction of being the world’s #1 cause of death. And few organizations raise their focus from one disease to look at epidemics as a whole—and how they can be prevented. Resolve to Save Lives is committed to saving lives from these preventable causes by partnering with government and civil society to implement scalable, proven strategies.

We prioritize partnerships with national and local organizations in low- and middle-income countries to co-create, advocate for, and scale up activities in heart disease prevention and epidemic preparedness. We work with global organizations to produce and promote policies that maximize health gains. Our funders include Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gates Philanthropy Partners, which is funded with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation. We are resolved to save lives.

Our team does not build abstract tech but applications that positively affect real humans across continents, making a difference in their quality of life. This is what makes every day at Resolve to Save lives simply amazing.

Bolatito Ogbeide

Technical Project Manager, Simple

We have the most mission-motivated, big-hearted, well-intentioned people working at this organization. I learn something new from our team every day.

Erin Sykes

Vice President, Communications

My favorite thing about working at Resolve is the opportunity to think creatively and collaboratively with a great team on how to maximize our impact. It’s been very satisfying. We’re limited only by our creativity, imagination, and effectiveness.

Dr. Tom Frieden

President and CEO

I am beyond thrilled to be a part of RTSL and its mission to save 100 million lives from cardiovascular disease. We must not lose focus on ending preventable deaths from heart disease. It is so impactful that we apply our best practices and insights gained from our CVH work around the world

Dr. Renu Garg, MD MPH

Senior Vice President, Cardiovascular Health

Our Impact

Epidemic preparedness

Improved infectious disease preparedness in 4 countries covering more than 25% of Africa’s population. Provided strategic and on-the-ground guidance for effectively spending $60 billion in multilateral funding.

A healthcare worker is demonstrating how to put on PPE

Covid response

Provided public health expertise and rapid financial support to 60+ countries, trained 40,000 healthcare workers who care for over 122 million people. Media outreach seen/heard by billions of people across the world, making Resolve a trusted voice.

A woman is getting her blood pressure tested in a monitor that her arim goes through

Cardiovascular health

Supporting programs in 55 countries. 105 countries participate in our online community.

Hypertension control

Policies and programs protect over 236 million people with hypertension to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Trans fat elimination

Launched global elimination initiative with the World Health Organization and supported regulations in 31 countries that will protect 2.4 billion people from this toxic, artificial substance.

Sodium reduction

Created global action to pressure governments to only buy healthy foods that meet their nutrition standards and helped set WHO sodium targets.

Our Approach

Simplicity
We promote and create simple, innovative, user-centered programs. Our technology is open-source and interoperable.

Speed
We are incredibly motivated by the challenges of today.

Scale
We catalyze nationwide, regional, and global improvements to support policies and interventions that result in sustained progress.

How we work

Technical rigor to develop and implement culturally competent and data-driven solutions.

Operational excellence to improve and sustain strong systems and institutions.

Policy action to create environments that improve health outcomes, save the most lives and advance health equity.

Our Values

Justice
We strive to create and sustain a culture of justice and inclusion among our staff and in our programmatic work.

Data-driven
Timely and accurate data, sound science, and technical rigor guide our decision-making so that we can maximize health protection and improvement.

Partnership
We strive to partner with integrity, compassion and humility, deeply valuing our colleagues, partners, and the communities we serve, and we eagerly seek advice on where and how we can be more effective saving lives.

Our Strategic Framework

Download Our Strategic Framework

Our latest work

Strengthening Epidemic Preparedness at the Country Level

May 23, 2022

In partnership with public health institutions in eight African countries, Resolve to Save Lives released an issue brief outlining five proven approaches for national governments to significantly improve epidemic detection and containment in their communities. The model is based on joint efforts among African nations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases over the past five years. The resulting recommendations, informed by on-the-ground experience, serve as a pathway forward for countries and global institutions to more quickly find and stop health threats by improving health protection at the country level.

Under Pressure: Strategies to improve access to medicines to treat high blood pressure in low- and middle- income countries

May 13, 2022

We released a new report, developed in collaboration with the Médecins Sans Frontières Access project, that identifies barriers to affordable blood pressure medication in LMICs and underscores the need for a transformation of the global blood pressure medicines market to make life-saving medicines more affordable and available.

Getting Shots Into Arms: A Vaccine Equity Strategy in North Carolina

April 13, 2022

Our U.S. COVID-19 Response team embedded staff members with the Wake County, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (WCHHS) to protect and improve community health during the pandemic. Beginning in February 2021, WCHHS began implementing a vaccine equity strategy to reach underserved communities. One of the prioritized census tracts increased vaccinations by 29.7% relative to other non-prioritized tracts in the county. Canvassing efforts and geo-targeted information campaigns were instrumental in building trust between community members and vaccine providers, which led to more people getting vaccinated through word-of-mouth encouragement.