Help Us Protect Children’s Hearts
What we do
We are building what does not yet exist.
Across Africa, childhood blood pressure remains largely unmeasured - leaving clinicians, researchers, and health systems without the data needed to act early.
At CHCAfrica, we are changing that.
Through large-scale screening and continent-wide data collaboration, we are creating the foundation for early detection, better care, and lifelong prevention.
Our work begins in South Africa - where we are leading a national, school-based blood pressure screening initiative.
This is more than screening.
It is a system-level intervention designed to close a critical gap in child health.
Through this work, we are:
Reaching children across diverse communities and school settings
Using standardised, high-quality measurement protocols
Providing immediate feedback and referral pathways
Generating nationally representative data at scale
We are enabling earlier and more accurate identification of childhood hypertension - addressing a major gap where children are currently underdiagnosed, misclassified, and inconsistently managed.
The project is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT05982847
Beyond national borders, CHCAfrica is leading the development of a pan-African, pooled data platform on childhood blood pressure.
By bringing together data from multiple African countries, we are:
Creating African-led, population-specific reference standards
Replacing reliance on inappropriate imported norms
Enabling cross-country research and collaboration
Strengthening Africa’s voice in global cardiovascular science
This is not just a dataset.
It is a shift toward decolonised, locally relevant evidence that reflects the true diversity of African populations.
Development of representative normal reference values for blood pressure and anthropometry in sub-Saharan African children and adolescents.
Everything we do is designed to move beyond measurement and toward real-world change.
We generate evidence
High-quality, ethically governed data at national and continental scale
We translate insight
Turning data into clinical guidance, policy tools, and research
We influence systems
Working with stakeholders to embed childhood blood pressure into health and education systems
We enable prevention
Shifting cardiovascular care earlier — where it has the greatest impact
Our work contributes to a long-term vision:
reducing the burden of hypertension and cardiovascular disease across the life course.
Without early detection, risk accumulates silently.
Without local data, decisions are uncertain.
Without action, prevention comes too late.
CHCAfrica exists to change that trajectory — by ensuring that every measurement taken today contributes to a healthier future across Africa.
This is only the beginning.
From South Africa to the continent, we are building a system that connects data, people, and purpose - designed to scale, to endure, and to transform how cardiovascular disease is understood and prevented.
Because the future of heart health in Africa starts in childhood.
