CLINICAL INNOVATORS
Interview by
KATLYN NEMANI, MD
Addressing Cardiovascular
Disease on a Global Scale
An Interview with Johanna Ralston, MBA, MPH
J
ohanna Ralston took on the post of chief
executive officer (CEO) of the World Heart
Federation on Feb. 1, 2011. Prior to becoming
CEO of the WHF, Johanna served as Vice President
of Global Strategies at the American Cancer Society
(ACS). While working at ACS, Johanna used her
strong leadership skills to build up their Global
Health department, launching ACS University (a
program aimed at strengthening civil society’s
role in cancer control in low and middle income
countries) and the international roll-out of Relay
for Life. She also led the global tobacco and cancer
control projects in more than 30 countries. Johanna
is an alumna of Harvard and the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program and
studied public health at Harvard and Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health.
How did you become interested in global health
and development?
My first job in global health was with International
Planned Parenthood Federation of Latin America,
about 20 years ago. However, my interest probably
started with my grandmother, who was a midwife
in rural Sweden and from whom I inherited a sense
of the association between access and health. I also
lived in India for a while as a young child and I think
my love for that country started then; it has been a
privilege to work with leaders from India, including
Salim Yusuf, MD, DPhil, and Srinath Reddy, MD,
as well as other pioneers in global health and NCDs,
from Pekka Puska in Finland to Deborah Chen’s
work to fight the tobacco industry in Jamaica.
What is the mission of the World Heart Federation?
The WHF unites its members and leads the global
fight against heart disease and stroke, with a focus on
low and middle income countries.
In 2011 the UN launched a global action plan: A
“Decade of Action Against Non-Communicable
ACC.org/CSWN
Diseases (NCDs).” Last
year NCDs were included in the Sustainable Development
goals 2016–2030 for
the first time. How did
this affect the WHF?
Both of these milestones have been influenced by and have an
influence on the WHF.
In 2009, we formed
the NCD Alliance along
with our sister associations representing cancer and diabetes, and
our collective advocacy
helped to drive the
2011 meeting, along
with the leadership of
governments in key
regions where the NCD
burden has been greatest. Through NCD Alliance and the power of
our members we also advocated for an NCD target
in the sustainable development goals. This enables
a more coordinated response and we hope will also
lead to prioritization of CVD on donor agendas.
What kind of progress have you seen in
addressing cardiovascular disease on a global
scale since you became CEO 5 years ago?
Progress has been remarkable, and much credit is
due the CVD organizations across the globe that
have advocated for and support global goals. The
American College of Cardiology and AHA were early
supporters of the WHF work to launch the NCD Alliance and to help advocate for the UN meeting and
the SDGs. Our members in the African Heart Network and Interamerican Heart Foundation advocated
at the country level to support a strong UN political
declaration, and we were fortunate that our board
member Nooshin Bazargani, MD, of the Emirates
Cardiac Society was placed on a high level panel
leading up to the UN meeting. The World Health
Organization (WHO) has carved out a position as the
CVD “go to” organization in the global health space,
and our close partnership with the WHO allows us
to link our members to important policies that are
being developed around best buys for CV health. We
have a seat at entirely new and different tables.
What have some of the barriers been to placing
cardiovascular disease on the global political
agenda?
I think it boils down to three things: the myth that
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