PhD defence: The Clinical Epidemiology of Hypertension in Tanzania

Health Systems and Links to HIV

Illustration

Robert Nathaniel Peck

PhD thesis

Hypertension is increasingly common in sub-Saharan Africa and is the major driver of cardiovascular disease in this region. The epidemiology of hypertension in Africa is poorly understood.

A better understanding of the epidemiology of hypertension and interaction between health systems and hypertension will be critical to improving health services and preventing cardiovascular disease in African adults.

The 4 main objectives of this thesis were as follows.

  • First, to determine mortality attributable to hypertension in adults admitted to hospitals in Tanzania.
  • Second, to describe the preparedness of primary care facilities in East Africa to meet the rising tide of hypertension.
  • Third, to enumerate factors associated with better or worse control of hypertension in patients on treatment for hypertension.
  • Fourth, to elucidate the relationship between HIV and hypertension in Tanzanian adults.

The long term goal of this work was to inform public health efforts as well as the next steps in hypertension research in Africa.

2019, 113 pages.

Time

20 May 2019, 13:00

Place

Festauditoriet 1-01, Bülowsvej 17.
1870 Frederiksberg C

Opponents 

Professor Ib Bygbjerg (chair), Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Professor Richard Walker, Newcastle University, England.

Professor Morten Sodemann, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.

Facilitator

Professor Henrik Friis, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.