Media Releases

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, affects a million New Zealanders and is the single biggest risk factor for New Zealand’s biggest killer - heart disease.

Inspiring stories, generous hearts, and a life-saving impact on the heart health of New Zealanders. This month, the Heart Foundation’s biggest annual fundraising campaign, the Big Heart Appeal, returns with New Zealanders sharing their stories to highlight the urgent need to raise funds for heart research.

Big-hearted volunteers will be out in full force in February 2025 as part of the Heart Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the Big Heart Appeal.

The Heart Foundation's call for wider access to a heart medication has been successful, with Pharmac announcing today that it will fund a drug used in the treatment of chronic heart failure, a move that will benefit more than 18,000 New Zealanders over the next 12 months.

The Heart Foundation is delighted to continue our work helping New Zealanders live longer, healthier lives due to permanent legislation allowing charities to operate fundraising lotteries online.

Trialling smartphones to monitor heart conditions, investing in cardiac nurses to enable better patient outcomes, and addressing equity gaps in women’s heart research are just three of the many research projects and training grants awarded funding by the Heart Foundation today.

This first network grant from the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum will support transformative research up to a value of US $10 million.

The Heart Foundation has appointed two new Board Directors.

The Heart Foundation is celebrating the success of their Tohu Manawa Ora | Healthy Heart Award programme, which has been shown to significantly impact the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of pre-schoolers across New Zealand.

The Heart Foundation, Coastguard and Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust welcome the Government’s announcement today that temporary legislation allowing charities to operate fundraising lotteries online will be made permanent.

The Heart Foundation will strengthen ties with New Zealand’s largest Primary Health Organisation, ProCare, to help stop New Zealanders dying prematurely from heart disease and to help those with heart disease live longer, healthier lives.

The Heart Foundation Board is seeking expressions of interest for Non-Executive Directors.