Population surveillance of cardiovascular diseases in low-income to middle-income countries should leverage existing international collaborations

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of mortality globally, and particularly high in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the response is still below optimal. The scope of surveillance data needed for NCDs and more specifically cardiovascular diseases and the related risk factors as well as health service utilisation is broad. No single data gathering system is sufficient to provide the data required for comprehensive NCD surveillance. Hitherto, LMICs have seldom applied the most appropriate and timely surveillance strategies and tools for monitoring the changing disease patterns and the effects of interventions. The global threat of NCDs combined with unplanned urbanisation and unhealthy habits, including sedentary lifestyles and improper dietary pattern, calls for new surveillance methods with direct input from national control programmes to decipher existing health systems programmes in LMICs and design viable policies targeted at population ageing. Consideration for resource mobilisation to establish a sustainable surveillance system in LMICs includes host government collaborations, dedicated national research funding institutions, and international and donor agencies.