The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors Joins the National Hypertension Control Roundtable

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Paige Rohe, prohe@chronicdisease.org, 404-924-8295

ATLANTA (Feb. 27, 2020) – The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) announced today that it has joined the National Hypertension Control Roundtable^® (NHCR) as a founding member. The NHCR is a public, private, and nonprofit partnership dedicated to improving national hypertension control rates from approximately 50% to 80% and to reducing disparities in hypertension control by 2025.

“The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors is proud to serve as a founding member of the National Hypertension Control Roundtable, which we believe will help to advance the evidence-based science of cardiovascular disease to lower hypertension nationally,” said John W. Robitscher, MPH, CEO of NACDD. “For more than 30 years, NACDD has been working on cardiovascular health promotion with our state and territorial health members, and we know that, while challenging to achieve, real gains against chronic disease burden can be made by controlling blood pressure to prevent heart attacks and strokes.” 

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, poses a serious and significant public health risk to our society. This condition currently affects one in three U.S. adults, and data indicate that hypertension rates are increasing among young adults. Hypertension currently contributes to one in seven cardiovascular-related deaths. The cost associated with hypertension in the U.S. annually is $51 billion, including $47.5 billion in medical expenditures.

Although the burden and cost associated with hypertension are well-documented, the national rate of hypertension control hovers around 50% with little to no improvement in the last decade. Controlling hypertension is critical to protecting our nation’s health—now and in the future—from heart disease, stroke, and other chronic diseases.

One thing is clear, business as usual will not suffice. We must coordinate our efforts to find tangible, sustainable, innovative, and fiscally sound strategies to curb hypertension and the public health challenge it presents.

NACDD joins the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other founding members in support of the roundtable objectives to bring coordination to efforts to achieve a national hypertension control rate of 80% and to reduce disparities in hypertension control in the United States by 2025. The Association looks forward to working with the NHCR’s interim leadership and fellow founding members to spotlight the challenge of hypertension control.

About the National Hypertension Control Roundtable^®

The National Hypertension Control Roundtable^® NHCR is a public, private, and nonprofit partnership dedicated to improving national hypertension control rates from  approximately 50% to 80% by 2025. Established in 2020, the NHCR is comprised of more than 50 national entities acting in concert to achieve 80% hypertension control. The NHCR is committed to actively spotlighting the need for improved hypertension control in the United States by:

• Sharing evidence-based interventions among Roundtable members.
• Implementing evidence-based interventions in Roundtable organizations.
• Engaging and recruiting industry colleagues in the effort to control hypertension rates.
• Supporting the promotion of publications (articles, case studies) and Roundtable members’ successful hypertension control activities.
• Highlighting hypertension control activities external to the Roundtable.
• Promoting prioritization of hypertension control in primary care.
• Member/patient engagement.

The NHCR anticipates sponsoring its first national meeting in the fall of 2020. The NHCR is open to additional supporting organizations and will manage membership inquiries on a rolling basis. Membership information can be obtained by contacting the NHCR at HTN80@cdc.gov or by reviewing our planned activities at https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/hypertension-roundtable.htm.

About the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors

The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and its more than 7,000 Members seek to strengthen state-based leadership and expertise for chronic disease prevention and control in states and nationally.

Established in 1988, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NACDD is the only membership association of its kind to serve and represent every chronic disease division in all states and U.S. territories.

NACDD collaborates with State Health Department programs and other partners working in heart disease and stroke prevention and in healthcare systems to conduct innovative educational and capacity-building opportunities and is a Million Hearts®2022 partner.

NACDD also manages a Cardiovascular Health Network, a national group of State Health Department program managers, staff, epidemiologists, and evaluators working to improve diagnosis and management of high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol in their states.

For more information about NACDD’s work on cardiovascular health or its other programs addressing chronic disease burden in the United States, visit chronicdisease.org.