The National Heart Foundation of New Zealand (known as the Heart Foundation) is a registered New Zealand heart health
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
established in 1968. It funds research into heart disease, and provides education to promote healthy lifestyles to prevent
heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
. It has awarded over $78 million to fund research and specialist training for
cardiologist
Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular ...
s since 1970. The funding has provided over 1,800 research and training grants awarded in New Zealand.
There are 18 Heart Foundation branches located through New Zealand.
The Heart Foundation's work includes:
* funding research into the treatment, cure and prevention of heart disease
* funding training and grants for New Zealand’s cardiologists and researchers
* developing and implementing heart disease prevention programmes for schools and communities
* educating New Zealanders on how to live heart healthy lifestyles
* championing care for those at risk of, or living with, heart disease in New Zealand
History
In 1968, a group of cardiologists established the National Heart Foundation with the aim of making an impact on New Zealand's heart disease epidemic. New Zealand's death rates due to heart disease were among the highest in the world at the time.
Research
The Heart Foundation is New Zealand's leading independent funder of heart research. Their funding enables medical researchers and cardiologists to undertake research projects and specialist training.
Heart Foundation Chair of Heart Health
Heart Foundation donors funded a Chair of Heart Health position at Auckland University. The Chair, filled by Professor Rob Doughty, was established to create a research hub to focus on improving understanding of heart disease, and to help improve heart health for New Zealanders.
Heart disease and mental illness study
In 2017 the Heart Foundation funded a two-year study into the link between heart disease and mental illness, to be carried out by Professor Bart Ellenbroek and his research team at Victoria University, Wellington.
Polypill study
The Heart Foundation of New Zealand, with other organisations including the British Heart Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, funded research published in 2011 into the use of a
polypill
A polypill is a type of combination drug, drug combination consisting of a single drug product in pill form (i.e., tablet (pharmacy), tablet or capsule (pharmacy), capsule) and thus ''combines'' multiple medications (that is, more than one active ...
to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Care and support
The Heart Foundation holds heart-help sessions that offer support and advice from guest speakers including health professionals. These sessions are run by regionally-based Heart Foundation staff.
Heart Foundation lottery
The Heart Foundation runs a lottery as a fundraiser. It began on 26 December 1993. Jennian Homes is the partner of the Heart Foundation Lottery.
Heart Foundation Tick
The Heart Foundation Tick programme was used to help New Zealanders find healthy food choices. The programme ran for 25 years and was retired in 2016.
An achievement of the Tick programme was its success in working with food companies to reduce the amount of salt in processed food products.
References
External links
Heart Foundation website
{{authority control
Charities based in New Zealand
Heart disease organizations
Health charities
1968 establishments in New Zealand
Organizations established in 1968