Public health action for CVD control in the developing countries is therefore linked to a policy-relevant research agenda. However, the classic sequence of long-term cohort studies followed by intervention trials to initially identify and later modify risk factors will be time consuming and is likely to be impeded by financial constraints. Public health action cannot afford to wait that long to initiate interventions. The appropriate strategy would be to (1) commence control strategies, based on what we can readily extrapolate from the knowledge available from other populations (eg, tobacco control); (2) evaluate known and putative risk factors through cross-sectional studies of populations (ecological comparisons) and case-control studies, preferably using incident cases of CVD; and (3) follow-up the cross-sectional survey populations prospectively to obtain incidence data on CVD-related morbidity and mortality as well as to assess the independent and interactive risks associated with known and emerging risk factors.