The National Heart Foundation of New Zealand is a registered New Zealand heart health charity established in 1968. It funds research into heart disease, and provides education to promote healthy lifestyles to prevent heart disease. It has awarded over $60 million to fund research and specialist training for cardiologists since 1970. The funding has provided 1,714 research and training grants awarded in New Zealand. There are 18 Heart Foundation branches located through New Zealand. The Heart Foundation's work includes:
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.
The Heart Foundation has funded a study into the link between heart disease and mental illness. The study will be carried out by Professor Bart Ellenbroek and his research team at Victoria University, Wellington.
Polypill study
The Heart Foundation of New Zealand, along with other organisations such as the British Heart Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, funded research into the use of the Polypill 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.
