The essential components of any CVD control program would be the following: (1) establishment of efficient systems for estimation of CVD-related burden of disease and its secular trends; (2) estimation of the levels of established CVD risk factors (eg, smoking, elevated cholesterol, or blood pressure) in representative population samples to help identify risk factors that require immediate intervention; (3) evaluation of emerging risk factors (eg, glucose, abdominal obesity, fibrinolytic status, homocysteine) that may be of special relevance to the populations concerned; (4) identification of the determinants of health behavior that influence the levels of both traditional and emerging risk factors in the specific context of each society; and (5) development of a health policy that will integrate population-based measures for CVD risk modification and cost-effective case management strategies for individuals who have clinically manifested CVD or are detected to be at a high risk of developing it.