OBJECTIVES : Evidence suggests that long-term modest reductions in salt (sodium) intake reduce blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is no information on this relationship in Cameroon. We estimate the potential impact of a 30% reduction in population sodium intake, as proposed by the World Health Organization in the global targets to prevent non-communicable disease.

METHODS : A proportional multi-state lifetable Markov model was used to estimate the impact of sodium reduction on the burden of CVD over the lifetime of adult (≥30 years) Cameroonians in 2016BP data were from a 2013 national survey while risk of CVD due to BP, and data on the relationship between sodium and BP were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease 2016 study and meta-analyses respectively. Uncertainty analysis was done using Monte Carlo simulations.

RESULTS : Over the lifetime, our model predicts that reducing current salt intake by 30% (i.e. by ~1.7g/day for men and 1.5g/day for women) will decrease the number of incident cases of ischemic heart disease (IHD) by 58,097 (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 47,447 – 69,146), the number of incident hemorrhagic strokes by 20,563 (95%UI: 15,910 – 25,287), the number of incident ischemic strokes by 22,038 (95%UI: 16,828 – 27,315) and incident hypertensive heart disease by 19,317 (95%UI: 18,468 – 20,138). Similarly, mortality will reduce by 32,277 (95%UI: 26,387 – 38,344) for IHD, by 17,742 (95%UI: 13,806 – 21,695) for hemorrhagic stroke, by 10,861 (95%UI: 8,151 – 13,580) for ischemic stroke, and by 10,258 (95%UI: 9,946 – 10,545) for hypertensive heart disease. This salt reduction could avert 322,109 (95% UI: 290,944 – 354,447) disability adjusted life years for both men and women.

CONCLUSIONS : Reducing salt intake could substantially decrease the burden of CVD among Cameroonian adults. Salt reduction interventions have the potential to produce significant health gains in this population.