RTSL: India

Resolve to Save Lives’ New Delhi office opened its doors in 2024 to serve our longstanding partnerships for cardiovascular health in India.

A patient getting blood pressure measured blood pressure by mitanin (community health volunteer) in Chhattisgarh. Courtesy of the India Hypertension Control Initiative.
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In Brief (PDF 111k)

Resolve to Save Lives is committed to supporting the Government of India in achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.4. To strengthen hypertension treatment and control under the National Program for Prevention & Control of NCDs (NP-NCD), RTSL launched the award-winning India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) in 2017 in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, state governments, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and the World Health Organization (WHO). In just a few short years, IHCI grew to provide quality care to millions of patients with hypertension and diabetes. With IHCI strategies now successfully integrated into the National Program, we continue to work with the Government and partners to strengthen primary health care for hypertension and diabetes control.

We also focus on promoting healthier diets to improve heart health in India, with an emphasis on sodium reduction to support the Government of India’s goal of a 30% reduction in salt intake at the population level. Our key areas of work include supporting interventions like replacing edible salt with low-sodium substitutes in households, implementing healthy food procurement policies in schools and other public settings, and supporting the government in reducing the consumption of processed and packaged foods through interventions like front-of-pack labelling, fiscal measures, and marketing restrictions on unhealthy foods, all aimed at fostering a healthier food environment.

Our Programs

 

A female Indian health care worker hands a patient a strip of medication through a hole in a protective screen
Pharmacist dispensing hypertension medicines to a patient at UPHC Heerapur in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Courtesy of the India Hypertension Control Initiative.

Our Experts in India

RTSL India: Board of Directors

RTSL India: Team

Dr. Amit Shah
Executive Director,  
RTSL India 

Executive Director

In 2021, India became the first low- to middle-income country to join our global movement to eliminate trans fat from the food supply by adopting WHO’s REPLACE action package, developed and implemented with RTSL’s technical expertise. Our support for trans fat elimination in India continues through efforts to strengthen laboratories for effective monitoring and enforcement, as well as by advancing research on healthier replacement options.

Our Partners in India

A patient wearing a mask, and sitting in a plastic chair, while a woman in a sari stands next to him, against a brightly coloured mural on the wall.
Patient being assisted for hypertension treatment by a community health worker at the Ayushman Arogya Mandir in Chikmagalur, Karnataka.

News from India

Read all news from India

A man having his blood pressure measured

Rural India Supporting Trust and Resolve to Save Lives: Supporting primary health care for cardiovascular health

We're proud to announce a new partnership with RIST to support the Government of India to improve effective treatment of high blood pressure and diabetes…
Image of man holding aching heart in background. Headshot of RTSL director Dr. Indu Bhushan and CNBC-TV18 log

“India cannot afford to ignore the dangers posed by trans fats”

Dr. Indu Bhushan calls for strict enforcement of trans fat regulations to save an estimated 70,000 deaths per year in India.…
conference room group photo with members from RTSL, Nutrition International, WHO India, and the Iodine Global Network in the forefront and projector screen with title slide in the background

Balancing sodium reduction and iodine nutrition for heart health

Salt is often fortified with iodine, a necessary ingredient for health. But too much sodium, the main ingredient in salt, is bad for the heart. RTSL recently co-hosted a meeting…

Resources

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Improving follow-up visits among individuals with hypertension: Quality Improvement project in the District Hospital, Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, 2021–2022

A quality improvement (QI) initiative conducted by the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) between January 2021 and September 2022 led to an increase in monthly follow-up visits from 21% to 37% and a decrease in missed health visits from 66% to 22%. Of the individuals counseled by ASHA home visits, 74.9% returned for follow-up. The QI initiative organized a multidisciplinary team to identify major root causes for missed visits—such as not effectively mobilizing patients for follow-up visits— and develop countermeasures—such as improved tracking as use of ASHA home visits. Health care workers were trained in the interventions, and a simple, digital health tool captured real-time data to follow progress of interventions in monthly data review meetings once they were implemented.

 

ABSTRACT

Background In India, to achieve a 25% relative reduction in the prevalence of raised blood pressure (BP) by 2025, approximately 4.5 crore additional people with hypertension will need to have their BP effectively treated. We conducted a Quality Improvement (QI) initiative to improve follow- up and reduce missed visits among individuals with hypertension registered under India Hypertension Control Initiative, District Hospital, Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, in 2022.

Improving hypertension care among private sector providers in India

Andrew E. Moran, et al.

A recent analysis authored by RTSL and our partners in India shows a lack of awareness among private sector providers in India that high blood pressure is a critical health threat. Providing prescriptions to patients is the first step in increasing medication availability and affordability. To encourage evidence-based hypertension care, the government and NGOs could implement strategies such as tailored incentives, financial rewards, tax benefits, accreditation, and recognition for private healthcare providers who prioritize controlling high blood pressure. Professional bodies in the private sector should establish programs emphasizing quality assurance and certifications in this area. Future research should focus on designing and testing new models for private sector hypertension service delivery.

Using timeliness metrics for household contact tracing and TB preventive therapy in the private sector, India

Using timeliness metrics for household contact tracing and TB preventive therapy

IJTLD

Can 7-1-7 help household contacts of tuberculosis patients get started on preventive therapy? In the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, our colleagues at International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease used a mixed-methods approach to assess the feasibility of the timeliness metric in the private sector in Chennai, India. Among 263 index patients, 90% had their household contacts (HHCs) line-listed within 7 days. Screening outcomes for 48% of the 556 were achieved in HHCs within 1 day, and 57% began TPT or received a treatment decision within 7 days. 24% of screened HHCs started TPT during the ‘7-1-7’ period, compared to 16% in historical controls. Barriers included HHC reluctance to be evaluated, private providers’ refusal to prescribe TPT, and reliance on facility-based screening instead of home visits. Overall, the introduction of 7-1-7 can effectively enhance HHC screening and management.

Contact us

Resolve To Save Lives Services 
Private Limited Regus,
4th Floor, Rectangle No 1, 

Commercial Complex D4, Saket, 

New Delhi-110017, India

Phone01166544051
CINU82990DL2023FTC422985
Email[email protected]