Study Title: The Champlain Community Heart Health Study (CCHHS) and Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study 

The CCHHS is a population-based survey that collected cardiovascular risk factor data as well as direct physical measures. The Champlain Cardiovascular Health Study has partnered with and utilizes the methodology of the international Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological study (PURE). The project initiated data collection on over 1,400 participants in the Champlain region between 2008 and 2009 and continues to collect follow-up data.

PURE Site Link: https://www.phri.ca/research/pure/

Excerpt from the PURE site:

"Our unique, long-running Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE study) involves studying 225,000 participants in detail, and 500,000 with simple information, from more than 1,000 urban and rural communities in 27 high, middle and low-income countries. 

PURE is investigating the impact of modernization, urbanization, and globalization on health behaviours, how risk factors develop and influence cardiovascular disease, diabetes, lung diseases, cancers, kidney disease, brain health, and injuries. Working with universities in 26 countries, early findings from PURE have demonstrated that a large proportion of patients who can benefit from proven and simple therapies did not receive them, especially if they were from poorer countries. 

Therefore, the large differences in death rates between the poor and the rich countries were likely due to differences in health care, rather than differences in risk factors. This identifies practical opportunities to improve health by the greater provision of simple but effective treatments."