Fixed-dose combination therapy for the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy, also known as polypill therapy, targets risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and has been proposed as a strategy to reduce global ASCVD burden. Here we conducted a systematic search for relevant studies from 2016-2022 to assess the effects of FDC therapy for prevention of ASCVD. The studies selected include randomized trials evaluating FDC therapy with at least one blood pressure-lowering drug and one lipid-lowering drug. The study data were independently extracted, the quality of evidence was appraised by multiple reviewers and effect estimates were pooled using a fixed-effect meta-analysis when statistical heterogeneity was low to moderate. The main outcomes of the analysis were all-cause mortality, fatal and nonfatal ASCVD events, adverse events, systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and adherence. Among 26 trials (n = 27,317 participants, 43.2% female and mean age range 52.9-76.0), FDC therapy was associated with lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and systolic blood pressure, with higher rates of adherence and adverse events in both primary and mixed secondary prevention populations. For studies with a mostly primary prevention population, FDC therapy was associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality by 11% (5.6% versus 6.3%; relative risk (risk ratio) of 0.89; 95% confidence interval 0.78 to 1.00; I2 = 0%; four trials and 16,278 participants) and risk of fatal and nonfatal ASCVD events by 29% (6.1% versus 8.4%; relative risk (risk ratio) of 0.71; 95% confidence interval 0.63 to 0.79; I2 = 0%; five trials and 15,503 participants). One adequately powered trial in an exclusively secondary prevention population showed that FDC therapy reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 24%. These findings support adoption and implementation of polypills to lower risk for all-cause mortality and ASCVD.

Estimation of all-cause excess mortality by age-specific mortality patterns for countries with incomplete vital statistics: a population-based study of the case of Peru during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: All-cause excess mortality is a comprehensive measure of the combined direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 on mortality. Estimates are usually derived from Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems, but these do not include non-registered deaths, which may be affected by changes in vital registration coverage over time. METHODS: Our analytical framework and empirical strategy account for registered mortality and under-registration. This provides a better estimate of the actual mortality impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru. We use population and crude mortality rate projections from Peru's National Institute of Statistics and Information (INEI, in Spanish), individual-level registered COVID-19 deaths from the Ministry of Health (MoH), and individual-level registered deaths by region and age since 2017 from the National Electronic Deaths Register (SINADEF, in Spanish).We develop a novel framework combining different estimates and using quasi-Poisson models to estimate total excess mortality across regions and age groups. Also, we use logistic mixed-effects models to estimate the coverage of the new SINADEF system. FINDINGS: We estimate that registered mortality underestimates national mortality by 37•1% (95% CI 23% - 48•5%) across 26 regions and nine age groups. We estimate total all-cause excess mortality during the period of analysis at 173,099 (95% CI 153,669 - 187,488) of which 108,943 (95% CI 96,507 - 118,261) were captured by the vital registration system. Deaths at age 60 and over accounted for 74•1% (95% CI 73•9% - 74•7%) of total excess deaths, and there were fewer deaths than expected in younger age groups. Lima region, on the Pacific coast and including the national capital, accounts for the highest share of excess deaths, 87,781 (95% CI 82,294 - 92,504), while in the opposite side regions of Apurimac and Huancavelica account for less than 300 excess deaths. INTERPRETATION: Estimating excess mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Peru must take under-registration of mortality into account. Combining demographic trends with data from administrative registries reduces uncertainty and measurement errors. In countries like Peru, this is likely to produce significantly higher estimates of excess mortality than studies that do not take these effects into account. FUNDING: None.

Relative contribution of diet and physical activity to increased adiposity among rural to urban migrants in India: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In common with many other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), rural to urban migrants in India are at increased risk of obesity, but it is unclear whether this is due to increased energy intake, reduced energy expenditure, or both. Knowing this and the relative contribution of specific dietary and physical activity behaviours to greater adiposity among urban migrants could inform policies for control of the obesity epidemic in India and other urbanising LMICs. In the Indian Migration Study, we previously found that urban migrants had greater prevalence of obesity and diabetes compared with their nonmigrant rural-dwelling siblings. In this study, we investigated the relative contribution of energy intake and expenditure and specific diet and activity behaviours to greater adiposity among urban migrants in India. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The Indian Migration Study was conducted between 2005 and 2007. Factory workers and their spouses from four cities in north, central, and south of India, together with their rural-dwelling siblings, were surveyed. Self-reported data on diet and physical activity was collected using validated questionnaires, and adiposity was estimated from thickness of skinfolds. The association of differences in dietary intake, physical activity, and adiposity between siblings was examined using multivariable linear regression. Data on 2,464 participants (median age 43 years) comprised of 1,232 sibling pairs (urban migrant and their rural-dwelling sibling) of the same sex (31% female) were analysed. Compared with the rural siblings, urban migrants had 18% greater adiposity, 12% (360 calories/day) more energy intake, and 18% (11 kilojoules/kg/day) less energy expenditure (P < 0.001 for all). Energy intake and expenditure were independently associated with increased adiposity of urban siblings, accounting for 4% and 6.5% of adiposity difference between siblings, respectively. Difference in dietary fat/oil (10 g/day), time spent engaged in moderate or vigorous activity (69 minutes/day), and watching television (30 minutes/day) were associated with difference in adiposity between siblings, but no clear association was observed for intake of fruits and vegetables, sugary foods and sweets, cereals, animal and dairy products, and sedentary time. The limitations of this study include a cross-sectional design, systematic differences in premigration characteristics of migrants and nonmigrants, low response rate, and measurement error in estimating diet and activity from questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS: We found that increased energy intake and reduced energy expenditure contributed equally to greater adiposity among urban migrants in India. Policies aimed at controlling the rising prevalence of obesity in India and potentially other urbanising LMICs need to be multicomponent, target both energy intake and expenditure, and focus particularly on behaviours such as dietary fat/oil intake, time spent on watching television, and time spent engaged in moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity.

Effect of supplemental nutrition in pregnancy on offspring's risk of cardiovascular disease in young adulthood: Long-term follow-up of a cluster trial from India.

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition during intrauterine life and early childhood is hypothesised to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Hypothesis), but experimental evidence from humans is limited. This hypothesis has major implications for control of the cardiovascular disease epidemic in South Asia (home to a quarter of world's population), where a quarter of newborns have low birth weight. We investigated whether, in an area with prevalent undernutrition, supplemental nutrition offered to pregnant women and their offspring below the age of 6 years was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in the offspring when they were young adults. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The Hyderabad Nutrition Trial was a community-based nonrandomised controlled intervention trial conducted in 29 villages near Hyderabad, India (1987-1990). Protein-calorie food supplement was offered daily to pregnant and lactating women (2.09 MJ energy and 20-25 g protein) and their offspring (1.25 MJ energy and 8-10 g protein) until the age of six years in the 15 intervention villages, but not in the 14 control villages. A total of 1,826 participants (949 from the intervention villages and 877 from the control villages, representing 70% of the cohort) at a mean age of 21.6 years (62% males) were examined between 2009 and 2012. The mean body mass index (BMI) of the participants was 20 kg/m2 and the mean systolic blood pressure was 115 mm Hg. The age, sex, socioeconomic position, and urbanisation-adjusted effects of intervention (beta coefficients and 95% confidence intervals) on outcomes were as follows: carotid intima-media thickness, 0.01 mm (-0.01 to 0.03), p = 0.36; arterial stiffness (augmentation index), -1.1% (-2.5 to 0.3), p = 0.097; systolic blood pressure, 0.5 mm Hg (-0.6 to 1.6), p = 0.36; BMI, -0.13 kg/m2 (-0.75 to 0.09), p = 0.093; low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, 0.06 mmol/L (-0.07 to 0.2), p = 0.37; and fasting insulin (log), -0.06 mU/L (-0.19 to 0.07), p = 0.43. The limitations of this study include nonrandomised allocation of intervention and lack of data on compliance, and potential for selection bias due to incomplete follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that in an area with prevalent undernutrition, protein-calorie food supplements offered to pregnant women and their offspring below the age of 6 years were not associated with lower levels of cardiovascular risk factors among offspring when they were young adults. Our findings, coupled with evidence from other intervention studies to date, suggest that policy makers should attach limited value to cardiovascular health benefits of maternal and child protein-calorie food supplementation programmes.

Yoga-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation After Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Given the shortage of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs in India and poor uptake worldwide, there is an urgent need to find alternative models of CR that are inexpensive and may offer choice to subgroups with poor uptake (e.g., women and elderly). OBJECTIVES: This study sought to evaluate the effects of yoga-based CR (Yoga-CaRe) on major cardiovascular events and self-rated health in a multicenter randomized controlled trial. METHODS: The trial was conducted in 24 medical centers across India. This study recruited 3,959 patients with acute myocardial infarction with a median and minimum follow-up of 22 and 6 months. Patients were individually randomized to receive either a Yoga-CaRe program (n = 1,970) or enhanced standard care involving educational advice (n = 1,989). The co-primary outcomes were: 1) first occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (composite of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, or emergency cardiovascular hospitalization); and 2) self-rated health on the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions-5 Level visual analogue scale at 12 weeks. RESULTS: MACE occurred in 131 (6.7%) patients in the Yoga-CaRe group and 146 (7.4%) patients in the enhanced standard care group (hazard ratio with Yoga-CaRe: 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71 to 1.15; p = 0.41). Self-rated health was 77 in Yoga-CaRe and 75.7 in the enhanced standard care group (baseline-adjusted mean difference in favor of Yoga-CaRe: 1.5; 95% CI: 0.5 to 2.5; p = 0.002). The Yoga-CaRe group had greater return to pre-infarct activities, but there was no difference in tobacco cessation or medication adherence between the treatment groups (secondary outcomes). CONCLUSIONS: Yoga-CaRe improved self-rated health and return to pre-infarct activities after acute myocardial infarction, but the trial lacked statistical power to show a difference in MACE. Yoga-CaRe may be an option when conventional CR is unavailable or unacceptable to individuals. (A study on effectiveness of YOGA based cardiac rehabilitation programme in India and United Kingdom; CTRI/2012/02/002408).

Mendel's laws, Mendelian randomization and causal inference in observational data: substantive and nomenclatural issues.

We respond to criticisms of Mendelian randomization (MR) by Mukamal, Stampfer and Rimm (MSR). MSR consider that MR is receiving too much attention and should be renamed. We explain how MR links to Mendel's laws, the origin of the name and our lack of concern regarding nomenclature. We address MSR's substantive points regarding MR of alcohol and cardiovascular disease, an issue on which they dispute the MR findings. We demonstrate that their strictures with respect to population stratification, confounding, weak instrument bias, pleiotropy and confounding have been addressed, and summarise how the field has advanced in relation to the issues they raise. We agree with MSR that "the hard problem of conducting high-quality, reproducible epidemiology" should be addressed by epidemiologists. However we see more evidence of confrontation of this issue within MR, as opposed to conventional observational epidemiology, within which the same methods that have demonstrably failed in the past are simply rolled out into new areas, leaving their previous failures unexamined.

Trends in premature avertable mortality from non-communicable diseases for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The reduction by a third of premature non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality by 2030 is the ambitious target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.4. However, the indicator is narrowly defined, including only four major NCDs (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases) and only for people aged 30-70 years. This study focuses on premature avertable mortality from NCDs-premature deaths caused by NCDs that could be prevented through effective public policies and health interventions or amenable to high-quality health care-to assess trends at global, regional, and national levels using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017. METHODS: We reviewed existing lists of NCD causes of death that are either preventable through public health policies and interventions or amenable to health care to create a list of avertable NCD causes of death, which was mapped to the GBD cause list. We estimated age-standardised years of life lost (YLL) per 100 000 population due to premature avertable mortality from NCDs, avertable NCD cause clusters, and non-avertable NCD causes by sex, location, and year and reported their 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We examined trends in age-standardised YLL due to avertable and non-avertable NCDs, assessed the progress of premature avertable mortality from NCDs in achieving SDG 3.4, and explored specific avertable NCD cause clusters that could make a substantial contribution to overall trends in premature mortality. FINDINGS: Globally, premature avertable mortality from NCDs for both sexes combined declined -1·3% (95% UI -1·4 to -1·2) per year, from 12 855 years (11 809 to 14 051) in 1990 to 9008 years (8329 to 9756) in 2017. However, the absolute number of avertable NCD deaths increased 49·3% (95% UI 47·3 to 52·2) from 23·1 million (22·0-24·1) deaths in 1990 to 34·5 million (33·4 to 35·6) in 2017. Premature avertable mortality from NCDs reduced in every WHO region and in most countries and territories between 1990 and 2017. Despite these reductions, only the Western Pacific and European regions and 25 countries (most of which are high-income countries) are on track to achieve SDG target 3.4. Since 2017, there has been a global slowdown in the reduction of premature avertable mortality from NCDs. In 2017, high premature avertable mortality from NCDs was clustered in low-income and middle-income countries, mainly in the South-East Asia region, Eastern Mediterranean region, and African region. Most countries with large annual reductions in such mortality between 1990 and 2017 had achieved low levels of premature avertable mortality from NCDs by 2017. Some countries, the most populous examples being Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Uzbekistan, Haiti, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Ukraine, Laos, and Egypt, reported both an upward trend and high levels of premature avertable mortality from NCDs. Cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases have been the main drivers of the global and regional reduction in premature avertable mortality from NCDs, whereas premature mortality from substance use disorders, chronic kidney disease and acute glomerulonephritis, and diabetes have been increasing. INTERPRETATION: Worldwide, there has been a substantial reduction in premature avertable mortality from NCDs, but progress has been uneven across populations. Countries vary substantially in current levels and trends and, hence, the extent to which they are on track to achieve SDG 3.4. By accounting for premature avertable mortality while avoiding arbitrary age cutoffs, premature avertable mortality from NCDs is a robust, comprehensive, and actionable indicator for quantifying and monitoring global and national progress towards NCD prevention and control. FUNDING: None.

A Community-Based Intervention for Managing Hypertension in Rural South Asia.

BACKGROUND: The burden of hypertension is escalating, and control rates are poor in low- and middle-income countries. Cardiovascular mortality is high in rural areas. METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomized, controlled trial in rural districts in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. A total of 30 communities were randomly assigned to either a multicomponent intervention (intervention group) or usual care (control group). The intervention involved home visits by trained government community health workers for blood-pressure monitoring and counseling, training of physicians, and care coordination in the public sector. A total of 2645 adults with hypertension were enrolled. The primary outcome was reduction in systolic blood pressure at 24 months. Follow-up at 24 months was completed for more than 90% of the participants. RESULTS: At baseline, the mean systolic blood pressure was 146.7 mm Hg in the intervention group and 144.7 mm Hg in the control group. At 24 months, the mean systolic blood pressure fell by 9.0 mm Hg in the intervention group and by 3.9 mm Hg in the control group; the mean reduction was 5.2 mm Hg greater with the intervention (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.2 to 7.1; P<0.001). The mean reduction in diastolic blood pressure was 2.8 mm Hg greater in the intervention group than in the control group (95% CI, 1.7 to 3.9). Blood-pressure control (<140/90 mm Hg) was achieved in 53.2% of the participants in the intervention group, as compared with 43.7% of those in the control group (relative risk, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.35). All-cause mortality was 2.9% in the intervention group and 4.3% in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: In rural communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, a multicomponent intervention that was centered on proactive home visits by trained government community health workers who were linked with existing public health care infrastructure led to a greater reduction in blood pressure than usual care among adults with hypertension. (Funded by the Joint Global Health Trials scheme; COBRA-BPS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02657746.).

Medical training for universal health coverage: a review of Cuba-South Africa collaboration.

Achieving improvements in Universal Health Coverage will require a re-orientation of medical education towards a stronger focus on primary health care. Innovative medical curricula have been implemented in some countries, but in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the emphasis remains focused on hospital and speciality services. Cuba has a long history of supporting LMICs and has made major contributions to African health care and medical training. A scheme for training South African students in Cuba was established 20 years ago and expanded more recently, with around 700 Cuban-trained graduates returning to South Africa each year from 2018 to 2022. The current strategy is to re-orientate and re-train these graduates in South African medical schools for up to 3 years as they are perceived to have inadequate skills. This negative narrative on Cuban-trained doctors in South Africa could be changed dramatically. They have highly appropriate skills in primary care and prevention and could provide much needed services to rural and urban under-served populations whilst gaining an orientation to the health problems of South Africa and strengthening their skills. Bilateral arrangements between South Africa and the United Kingdom are providing mechanisms to support such schemes. The Cuban approach to medical education may have lessons for many countries attempting to meet the challenges of Universal Health Coverage.

Causal relationships between lipid and glycemic levels in an Indian population: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization approach.

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia and abnormal glycemic traits are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Although the association between the two traits is well established, there still exists a gap in the evidence for the direction of causality. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the direction of the causal relationship between lipids and glycemic traits in an Indian population using bidirectional Mendelian randomization (BMR). METHODS: The BMR analysis was conducted on 4900 individuals (2450 sib-pairs) from the Indian Migration Study. Instrument variables were generated for each lipid and glycemic trait (fasting insulin, fasting glucose, HOMA-IR, HOMA-ß, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides) to examine the causal relationship by applying two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression in both directions. RESULTS: Lipid and glycemic traits were found to be associated observationally, however, results from 2SLS showed that only triglycerides, defined by weighted genetic risk score (wGRS) of 3 SNPs (rs662799 at APOAV, rs780094 at GCKR and rs4420638 at APOE/C1/C4), were observed to be causally effecting 1.15% variation in HOMA-IR (SE = 0.22, P = 0.010), 1.53% in HOMA- ß (SE = 0.21, P = 0.001) and 1.18% in fasting insulin (SE = 0.23, P = 0.009). No evidence for a causal effect was observed in the reverse direction or between any other lipid and glycemic traits. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that triglycerides may causally impact various glycemic traits. However, the findings need to be replicated in larger studies.

Yoga and Cardiovascular Health Trial (YACHT): a UK-based randomised mechanistic study of a yoga intervention plus usual care versus usual care alone following an acute coronary event.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of yoga practice on subclinical cardiovascular measures, risk factors and neuro-endocrine pathways in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR) following acute coronary events. DESIGN: 3-month, two-arm (yoga +usual care vs usual care alone) parallel randomised mechanistic study. SETTING: One general hospital and two primary care CR centres in London. Assessments were conducted at Imperial College London. PARTICIPANTS: 80 participants, aged 35-80 years (68% men, 60% South Asian) referred to CR programmes 2012-2014. INTERVENTION: A certified yoga teacher conducted yoga classes which included exercises in stretching, breathing, healing imagery and deep relaxation. It was pre-specified that at least 18 yoga classes were attended for inclusion in analysis. Participants and partners in both groups were invited to attend weekly a 6- to 12-week local standard UK National Health Service CR programme. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (i) Estimated left ventricular filling pressure (E/e'), (ii) distance walked, fatigue and breathlessness in a 6 min walk test, (iii) blood pressure, heart rate and estimated peak VO2 following a 3 min step-test. Effects on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic function, body fat, blood lipids and glucose, stress and general health were also explored. RESULTS: 25 participants in the yoga + usual care group and 35 participants in the usual care group completed the study. Following the 3-month intervention period, E/e' was not improved by yoga (E/e': between-group difference: yoga minus usual care:-0.40 (-1.38, 0.58). Exercise testing and secondary outcomes also showed no benefits of yoga. CONCLUSIONS: In this small UK-based randomised mechanistic study, with 60 completing participants (of whom 25 were in the yoga + usual care group), we found no discernible improvement associated with the addition of a structured 3-month yoga intervention to usual CR care in key cardiovascular and neuroendocrine measures shown to be responsive to yoga in previous mechanistic studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01597960; Pre-results.

Morning plasma cortisol as a cardiovascular risk factor: findings from prospective cohort and Mendelian randomization studies.

OBJECTIVE: The identification of new causal risk factors has the potential to improve cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk prediction and the development of new treatments to reduce CVD deaths. In the general population, we sought to determine whether cortisol is a causal risk factor for CVD and coronary heart disease (CHD). DESIGN AND METHODS: Three approaches were adopted to investigate the association between cortisol and CVD/CHD. First, we used multivariable regression in two prospective nested case-control studies (total 798 participants, 313 incident CVD/CHD with complete data). Second, a random-effects meta-analysis of these data and previously published prospective associations was performed (total 6680 controls, 696 incident CVD/CHD). Finally, one- and two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses were performed (122,737 CHD cases, 547,261 controls for two-sample analyses). RESULTS: In the two prospective nested case-control studies, logistic regression adjusting for sex, age, BMI, smoking and time of sampling, demonstrated a positive association between morning plasma cortisol and incident CVD (OR: 1.28 per 1 SD higher cortisol, 95% CI: 1.06-1.54). In the meta-analysis of prospective studies, the equivalent result was OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.06-1.31. Results from the two-sample Mendelian randomization were consistent with these positive associations: OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.98-1.15. CONCLUSIONS: All three approaches demonstrated a positive association between morning plasma cortisol and incident CVD. Together, these findings suggest that elevated morning cortisol is a causal risk factor for CVD. The current data suggest strategies targeted at lowering cortisol action should be evaluated for their effects on CVD.

Cuban medical training for South African students: a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Achieving universal health care coverage will require greater investment in primary health care, particularly in rural and underserved populations in low and middle-income countries. South Africa has invested in training black students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Cuba and large numbers of these Cuban-trained students are now returning for final year and internship training in South Africa. There is controversy about the scheme, the quality and relevance of training received and the place of Cuban-trained doctors in the health care system. Exploring the experiences of Cuban- and South African-trained students, recent graduates and medical school faculty may help understand and resolve the current controversy. METHODS: Using a mixed methods approach, in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion were held with deans of medical schools, senior faculty, and Cuban-trained and South African-trained students and recent graduates. An online structured questionnaire, adapted from the USA medical student survey, was developed and administered to Cuban- and South African-trained students and recent graduates. RESULTS: South African students trained in Cuba have had beneficial experiences which orientate them towards primary health care and prevention. Their subsequent training in South Africa is intended to fill skill gaps related to TB, HIV and major trauma. However this training is ad hoc and variable in duration and demoralizing for some students. Cuban-trained students have stronger aspirations than those trained in South Africa to work in rural and underserved communities from which many of them are drawn. CONCLUSION: Attempts to assimilate returning Cuban-trained students will require a reframing of the current negative narrative by focusing on positive aspects of their training, orientation towards primary care and public health, and their aspirations to work in rural and under-served urban areas. Cuban-trained doctors could be part of the solution to South Africa's health workforce problems.

Development of a Yoga-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation (Yoga-CaRe) Programme for Secondary Prevention of Myocardial Infarction.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) after myocardial infarction is highly effective. It is unavailable in public hospitals in India due to limited resources. Our objective was to develop a scalable model of CR for India based on yoga, which could also appeal to some groups with low uptake of CR (e.g., ethnic minorities, women, and older people) globally. The intervention was developed using a structured process. A literature review and consultations with yoga experts, CR experts, and postmyocardial infarction patients were conducted to systematically identify and shortlist appropriate yoga exercises and postures, breathing exercises, meditation and relaxation practices, and lifestyle changes, which were incorporated into a conventional CR framework. The draft intervention was further refined based on the feedback from an internal stakeholder group and an external panel of international experts, before being piloted with yoga instructors and patients with myocardial infarction. A four-phase yoga-based CR (Yoga-CaRe) programme was developed for delivery by a single yoga instructor with basic training. The programme consists of a total of 13 instructor-led sessions (2 individual and 11 group) over a 3-month period. Group sessions include guided practice of yoga exercises and postures, breathing exercises, and meditation and relaxation practices, and support for the lifestyle change and coping through a moderated discussion. Patients are encouraged to self-practice daily at home and continue long-term with the help of a booklet and digital video disc (DVD). Family members/carers are encouraged to join throughout. In conclusion, a novel yoga-based CR programme has been developed, which promises to provide a scalable CR solution for India and an alternative choice for CR globally. It is currently being evaluated in a large multicentre randomised controlled trial across India.