Background:
COPE-BP, a community pharmacy-led hypertension management initiative for low-income urban residents (LIURs), is a pioneering research programme to improve hypertension care for underserved urban populations in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Led by Dr. Saima Afaq, with Prof. Rumana Huque as joint lead, the programme is funded by NIHR-UK and will run from March 2025 to February 2030. It is led by the University of York (UK), in collaboration with the University of Glasgow (UK), the University of Oxford (UK), ARK Foundation (Bangladesh), and Khyber Medical University (Pakistan).
Hypertension is a pressing public health concern, particularly among low-income urban communities with limited access to quality healthcare. Despite their accessibility, community pharmacies remain an underutilised resource in hypertension management. The COPE-BP programme seeks to bridge this gap by implementing a structured intervention that promotes collaboration between community pharmacists and physicians, ultimately improving hypertension management and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
