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Although most cardiovascular disease occurs in low-income and middle-income countries, little is known about the use of effective secondary prevention medications in these communities. We aimed to assess use of proven effective secondary preventive drugs (antiplatelet drugs, β blockers, angiotensin-converting-enzyme [ACE] inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers [ARBs], and statins) in individuals with a history of coronary heart disease or stroke.

In the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study, we recruited individuals aged 35–70 years from rural and urban communities in countries at various stages of economic development. We assessed rates of previous cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease or stroke) and use of proven effective secondary preventive drugs and blood-pressure-lowering drugs with standardised questionnaires, which were completed by …