World Hypertension League

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General Enquiries

Questions about the material on this website should be directed to:

Dr. Arun Chockalingam
Secretary General
Blusson Hall - 11016
Faculty of Health Sciences
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC
V5A 1S6
Canada
Tel: +1 778-782-6952
Fax: +1 778-782-5927
Email: whlsec@sfu.ca

Executive Board

President

	Liu Lisheng, M.D. Fu Wai Hospital 167 Beilishi Lu Beijing, China 100037	Phone: +86 10 6835 1990 Fax: +86 10 6835 1990 Fax: +86 10 6858 5833 Email: chlhypt@163bj.com

Past President

	Dr. Peter Sleight John Radcliffe Hospital Dept. Cardiovascular Medicine Oxford, OX3 9DU United Kingdom	Phone: +44 1865 760 564 (direct) Phone: +44 1865 220135 Fax: +44 1865 768 844 Email: peter.sleight@attglobal.net

Vice President

	Professor L.J. Beilin Department of Medicine Royal Perth Hospital GPO Box X 2213 Perth, Western Australia 6847, Australia	Phone: +61 08 9224 0258 Fax: +61 08 9224 0246 Email: lbeilin@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

Secretary General

Dr. Arun Chockalingam
Secretary General
Blusson Hall - 11016
Faculty of Health Sciences
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC
V5A 1S6
Canada

Phone: +1 778-782-6952
Fax: +1 778-782-5927
Email: whlsec@sfu.ca

Advisor, Communications

	Joerg Poetzsch, Ph.D. Poetzsch Consulting Chodowieckistrasse 29 10405 Berlin, Germany	Phone: +49 30 4863 7389 Fax: +49 30 4863 7379 Email: joerg.poetzsch@poetzsch-consulting.de

Advisor, Developing Countries

	Dr. M. Mohsen Ibrahim 1 El-Diwan Street Garden City, Cairo, Egypt	Phone: +20 2 794 8877 Fax: +20 2 794 8879 Email: ehs@link.net

Officers at Large


	J. George Fodor, M.D., Ph.D. Research Section, Heart Check, HIPRC Univ. of Ottawa Heart Institute Ottawa Civic Hospital 1053 Carling Avenue Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Y 4E9	Phone: 1 613 761 4785 Fax: 1 613 761 5309 Email: gfodor@ottawaheart.ca

	Detlev Ganten, M.D., Ph.D. Chairman Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin Schumannst. 20/21 10117 Berlin, Germany	Phone: +49 30 450 550 001 Fax: +49 30 450 550 901 Email: ganten@charite.de


	Dr. Patrick J. Mulrow Medical University of Ohio Department of Medicine -RHC 3120 Glendale Avenue Toledo, Ohio 43614-5809	Phone: 1 419 383 6016 Fax: 1 419 383 5360 Email: pmulrow@meduohio.edu Email: gmonhollen@meduohio.edu

Editor, WHL Newsletter

Dr. Anja Kroke
Editor, WHL Newsletter
Robert-Rossle-Strasse 10
13125 Berlin, Germany

Phone: +49 30 9406 2123
Fax: +49 30 9406 2123
Email: whl@mdc-berlin.de

Members for ISH

	Professor L.H. Lindholm Department of Public Health & Clinical Medicine Umeå University Hospital Umeå SE-90185 Sweden	Phone: +46 90 785 352 Fax: +46 46 139013 Email: larsh.Lindholm@fammed.umu.se


	Dr. Michael Alderman Albert Einstein College of Medicine Department of Epidemiology & Social Science 1300 Morris Park Avenue Bronx, NY 10461	Phone: 1 718 430 2281 Fax: 1 718 430 8780 Email: alderman@aecom.yu.edu


For all enquiries relating to the ISH, please contact the Secretariat:
ISH Secretariat Hampton Medical Conferences Ltd. 113-119 High Street Hampton Hill Middlesex TW12 1NJ United Kingdom	Phone: +44 (0) 20 8979 8300 Fax: +44 (0) 20 8979 6700 Email: secretariat@ish-world.com

WHO Liaison

Dr. Shanthi Mendis
Coordinator, CV Unit
Management of
Noncommunicable Dis.
WHO
20 Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland

Phone: +41 22 791 2111
Fax: +41 22 791 0746
Email: mendiss@who.int

History

That hypertension is a world-wide problem was clear from epidemiological studies in the 1950's and 1960's. Research benefited greatly from the establishment of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH), around 1964. The ISH congresses greatly catalyzed exchange of research information; however, practical applications to populations seemed to be lagging behind research. The concept of hypertension control in populations, proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. National High Blood Pressure Education Program, fell on fertile ground in the 1970's. National leagues against hypertension started coming to life in a number of European countries (i.e., Italy, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Greece). They had both medical and lay members, and their aims were distinct from those of scientific societies.

In 1975 the idea of a European league was born in discussions between Dr. Franz Gross of Heidelberg, Dr. Cesare Bartorelli in Milan, and Dr. Tom Strasser in Geneva who, at that time, was working for the WHO. Drs. Gross and Bartorelli were members of the WHO Expert Committee for Cardiovascular Diseases and were involved in a number of WHO meetings on hypertension, in particular, mild hypertension. In 1973 WHO had established a Mild Hypertension Liaison Committee to link the ongoing trials on mild hypertension, preeminently a population problem.

In 1977 Dr. Bartorelli hosted a memorable conference at the Villa d'Este on Lake Como, gathering sixteen personalities from eight countries, and the concept of a European League Against Hypertension was formulated. A second conference was hosted by Dr. Gross and the German League in Dusseldorf in 1980 which reinforced the idea of cooperation between the existing national leagues and WHO. At the third conference, which was jointly organized in Geneva in 1982 by the WHO and the International Green Cross, the concept of a wider association of anti-hypertension leagues was clearly defined, with aims ..."complementary to WHO's hypertension control activities". As stated in the minutes of the conference, "A periodical newsletter ... should be the best medium for circulating information among the member leagues and societies." Drs. Gross and Strasser were assigned the task of drafting a blueprint of the bylaws. These were revised and supplemented by Drs. L. Hansson and J. Menard and then circulated to all national hypertension leagues and societies, including those outside Europe.

Seven months later, on June 1, 1983, the Fourth Conference of the Anti-Hypertension Leagues and Societies, held in Milan, accepted the third draft of the Statutes, and concluded to proceed with the establishment of the World Hypertension League when at least seven national leagues (societies, committees) have declared the intention to join. Candidates for membership quickly exceeded the magic number of seven, and with the financial support of the International Green Cross, the WHL was registered in Geneva as a non-profit international organization on January 4, 1984.

The first annual conference of the now officially established WHL took place in Geneva on June 22, 1984, in the presence of the chairmen of fifteen national hypertension leagues and societies (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA). The WHL then developed steadily to attain in 1996, 72 Regular and Associate Members and 13 Supporting Members. Over the 12 years of its existence, the WHL has held major symposia, and a World Conference on Hypertension Control in 1995.

Presently, in 2007, the WHL has 85 member organizations and 1 supporting member, for a total of 86 WHL member organizations.

WHL Symposium at ISH Meeting
	October 15, 2006	Fukuoka, Japan
WHL Regional Meeting and 10th Annual Scientific Meeting of EHS
	April 5 - 7, 2006	Cairo, Egypt
WHL Regional Meeting
	October 16, 2005	Beijing, China
WHL Regional Meeting and 9th Annual Scientific Meeting of EHS
	April 6 - 9, 2005	Cairo, Egypt

Twentieth WHL Council Conference and Symposium: Community Control of Hypertension with Special Emphasis on Central & Eastern Europe. Organized by the WHL and the Czech Society of Hypertension.
	April 24, 2004	Prague, Czech Republic
Nineteenth WHL Council Conference & Workshop on Hypertension & Obesity.
	June 22, 2002	Prague, Czech Republic
Eighteenth WHL Council Conference & Workshop on Hypertension in the Elderly
	May 7, 1999	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Seventeenth WHL Council Conference & Workshop on Hypertension and Congestive Heart Failure
	June 28, 1997	Montreal, Quebec
World Conference on Hypertension Control Sixteenth Conference of the WHL Council
	June 1995	Ottawa, Canada
	Topic:	Hypertension Control: Worldwide Experience. Jointly organized by the World Hypertension League and the Canadian Coalition for High Blood Pressure Prevention and Control
Fifteenth Conference of the WHL Council
	Dec 1993	Padova, Italy
	Topic:	The WHL held Conference in conjunction with an international symposium on Communicating in Hypertension and a symposium of the Italian League Against Hypertension on Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease
Fourteenth Conference of the WHL Council
	May 1992	Berlin, Germany
	Topic:	A joint symposium of the World Hypertension League and the German Hypertension League in conjunction with the 4th National Blood Pressure Conference
Thirteenth Conference of the WHL Council
	September 1991	Barcelona, Spain
	Topic:	The Economics of Hypertension Control - A Workshop of the World Hypertension League
Twelvth Conference of the WHL Council
	March 1990	Leuven, Belgium
	Topic:	Scientific Meeting on Calcium Antagonists (organized by the Belgian Hypertension Committee) and a Symposium on Alcohol and the Hypertensive Cardiovascular Diseases, organized jointly by the World Hypertension League and the Belgian Hypertension Committee

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August 2008

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