Hypertension Treatment in Nigeria Programme Seeks to Expand to Five New States

Abuja, Nigeria – The Hypertension Treatment in Nigeria (HTN) programme, a collaborative academic research initiative, has announced plans to scale up its operations to five new states in Nigeria. The programme, which has already enrolled over 23,000 patients with hypertension, aims to expand its reach to Abia, Delta, Gombe, Jigawa, and Oyo states.

The HTN programme is a 5-year National Institutes of Health-funded research project led by the University of Abuja, Washington University in St. Louis, USA, and Northwestern University, Chicago, USA. The programme, which commenced in 2019, is expected to end in 2024.

According to Co-Principal Investigator, Professor Mark Huffman, and lead investigator, Associate Professor Dike Ojji, the programme has submitted a renewal application to the NIH/NHLBI to support national scale-up in five states and diabetes integration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Hypertension is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa, and Nigeria, with a prevalence of over 30 percent, contributes significantly to this burden. The HTN programme aims to improve the treatment and care of hypertension in Nigeria.

In addition to the HTN programme, the research team is also working on a new study, ENhancing Intergenerational HeAlth in Nigeria: Peripartum as Critical Life StagE for CardioVascular Health (ENHANCE-CVH), funded by NIH until 2028. This study focuses on maternal cardiovascular health and its impact on the newborn child.

Another important NIH-funded work is the Nigeria Sodium Study, which commenced in 2020 and will end in 2026. The study aims to establish mandatory sodium limits in Nigeria’s food industry.

The research team believes that scaling up their studies, collaborating with other health institutions, and informing government policies with cutting-edge research will significantly improve Nigeria’s health system.