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.
Download RTSL India: 
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

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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…

image of Dr. Amit, Dr. Manika, Dr. Swati, and Dr. Murugunathan on stage for a panel discussion for the CARDIOBASE 2024 panel

Resolve to Save Lives at CARDIOBASE 2024

The RTSL India team, including Dr. Amit, Dr. Manika, and Dr. Swati, recently joined a panel discussion on ‘Unhealthy Diets and Cardiovascular Disease’ at CARDIOBASE 2024, moderated by Dr. Murugunathan.…

Resources

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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.

Decentralizing hypertension care in Punjab and Maharashtra States

BioMed Central Ltd

By bringing care delivery closer to communities, we can provide more people with access to quality care, improve hypertension control and save more lives. Our experts in India documented the decentralization process and its impact on patient outcomes in nine districts from 2018–2022.

Factors affecting patient retention to hypertension treatment in a North Indian State: A mixed-method study

Patient retention to hypertension treatment: A mixed-method study from North India

The Journal of Clinical Hypertension

Improving hypertension control requires patient retention to hypertension treatment, which requires ready access to care. This study highlights the need for improved primary care services and patient-centered services, including extended clinic hours and diagnostic facilities.

Experts from Resolve to Save Lives India analyzed patient retention rates in hypertension treatment using a mixed-method concurrent design in a North Indian district, considering socio-demographic characteristics and patient follow-up rates along with focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with health care providers and patients. Patient retention and blood pressure control were better at Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) levels;  barriers such as medication side effects, pill burden, and limited health care access hindered patient retention and medication adherence, compromising hypertension control at higher-level facilities, notably among females.

“The decentralization process involved training, treatment protocol provision, supervision, and monitoring. Among 394,038 individuals registered with hypertension from 2018–2021, 69% were under care in 2022. Nearly half of those under care (129,720/273,355) received treatment from HWCs in 2022. Care of hypertensive individuals from district hospitals (14%), community health centres (20%), and primary health centres (24%) were decentralized to HWCs. Overall BP control rose from 20% (4,004/20,347) in 2019 to 58% (157,595/273,355) in 2022, while missed visits decreased from 61% (12,394/20,347) in 2019 to 26% (70,894/273,355) in 2022. This trend was consistent in both states. HWCs exhibited the highest BP control and the lowest missed visits throughout the study period compared to other facility types.”

Read the full study here.

Authors: Nidhi Jaswal PhD, Sonu Goel PhD, Kritika Upadhyay MPH, Anupam Khungar Pathni MBBS, Om Prakash Bera MPH, MBA, Vandana Shah LLM

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]