WHO Collaborating Centre CHN-11: More than four decades of advancing cardiovascular health in the Western Pacific

The WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Cardiovascular Diseases (CHN-11), hosted by the Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute in Guangzhou, China, is one of the longest-standing WHO collaborating centres in the Western Pacific Region. First designated by WHO on 1 May 1980, CHN-11 has supported WHO and Member States for more than four decades through research, training and technical cooperation in cardiovascular disease prevention and control. Today, after eight redesignations, it remains the only WHO collaborating centre for cardiovascular diseases in China.

As the second-oldest WHO collaborating centre in the Western Pacific Region, CHN-11 has evolved alongside major advances in cardiovascular medicine and public health. Since its establishment, the Centre has served as a bridge between China and the international health community, contributing scientific expertise, training health professionals and supporting WHO initiatives aimed at reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases. Its current terms of reference include supporting WHO in the development of operational manuals for the HEARTS technical package and assisting with the implementation and expansion of cardiovascular disease initiatives, including programmes for congenital heart disease and rheumatic heart disease.

^{Cardiologists from CHN-11 conducting heart examinations on children (Fiji, 2015).}

The Centre’s history reflects several important milestones in cardiovascular health. In the early 1980s, CHN-11 participated in the landmark “People’s Republic of China–United States Collaborative Study on Cardiovascular and Cardiopulmonary Epidemiology” - a 20-year cohort study conducted in Beijing and Guangzhou to better understand differences in cardiovascular disease patterns and risk factors between populations in China and the United States of America. The study contributed valuable evidence on hypertension, stroke, arteriosclerosis and chronic respiratory diseases.

Building on its epidemiological work, the Centre became a key contributor to WHO’s global efforts to prevent rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease between 1986 and 2005. The Centre’s expertise in these conditions had been recognized by the Organization as early as in the 1970s. Research by the Centre has led to nationally recognized achievements, earning major scientific awards in China and contributing to advances in prevention and treatment strategies.

The Centre has also driven innovation in congenital heart disease care. In 2004, it established the Guangdong Congenital Heart Disease Prevention and Treatment Network, linking 40 medical centres across 21 cities. Over the years, it pioneered several national and international firsts, including fetal cardiac interventions and advanced virtual reality-assisted surgical techniques, helping improve outcomes for children born with heart disease.

^{Doctors from CHN-11 training health workers from the Mekong River countries on cardiovascular disease prevention and support (Lao People’s Democratic Republic, 2018).}

Beyond research and innovation, CHN-11 has also helped strengthen health systems through international cooperation and capacity-building. For example, the Centre worked in the WHO African Region training health professionals in Seychelles and supporting clinical and epidemiological work in Ghana. It contributed to medical cooperation initiatives in Pacific island countries, including Fiji and Tonga. CHN-11 also provided technical support to WHO training activities in the Western Pacific Region and contributed expertise to regional discussions on hypertension prevention and control.

More recently, CHN-11 has supported WHO’s work on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through engagement with the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on NCDs and by contributing technical expertise to regional cardiovascular disease prevention and hypertension control efforts. The Centre has also remained actively engaged in regional WHO collaborating centre networks and forums, helping strengthen partnerships across the Western Pacific Region and beyond.

From its designation in 1980 to its current role supporting WHO’s cardiovascular disease agenda, CHN-11 demonstrates how sustained collaboration can generate lasting impact. Through more than 46 years of partnership with WHO, the Centre has contributed to scientific discovery, professional training, technical cooperation and improved cardiovascular health across the Western Pacific Region and the world.

^{Attending the Fifth Regional Forum of WHO Collaborating Centers in 2025: (Left to right) Dr. Qu Yanji (epidemiologist), Professor Chen Jimei (director) and Professor Liu Xiaoqing (head of collaborating center).}