Coming to a close on Friday, March 28th 2014 was the process of data collection from an adult population sample spanning three neighbourhoods in Dande Municipality: Caxito, Mabubas and Úcua; within the scope of the research project "Study of the cardiovascular risk factors in an adult population sample from Bengo Province, Angola". Over the course of the last six months, around 2,500 persons underwent a process of interviewing and free and voluntary clinical testing that took place either in their local neighbourhoods or in the health units serving their communities in conditions fully respecting the privacy and confidentiality of their personal data.

All individuals testing positive for alterations in their clinical parameters were subsequently redirected to specialist cardiology appointments at Bengo General Hospital in a joint working project between this institution and the Bengo Province Directorate of Health.

Currently, cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death and incapacity in countless countries. However, there are only a handful of studies capturing the incidence of hypertension (HTA) - an indicator essential to monitoring the evolution of the disease alongside the effect of measures susceptible to correcting the risk factors - and there are no published estimates for the rate of HTA incidence in Africa and in particular for Angola. This duly demonstrates the respective importance of calculating the rate of HTA incidence in Angolan populations and identifying those individuals most susceptible to developing HTA over the medium to long term. Accurate estimates of the HTA incidence rate and the identification of the key determining factors are fundamental to the rational planning of prevention strategies. In addition, this seeks to replicate the adult population prevalence study, which took place in 2011, while including in this analysis further criteria for evaluating socio-demographic, biological and life style factors.