The American College of Cardiology (ACC) plans on expanding its cardiovascular disease prevention program to educate physicians in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Argentina, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

In January, the ACC and the Chinese Society of Cardiology (CSC) partnered on a cardiovascular disease education and awareness program in China. The initiative included a webinar series and education and risk assessment sessions delivered to physicians through WeChat, a popular social media platform in China.

The success of that program helped the ACC decide to launch similar programs in nine other countries, according to a news release. Pfizer is supporting all of the programs.

Physicians and other healthcare professionals who participate will have access to a webinar series on primary prevention, secondary prevention for patients who experienced an acute event and prevention for patients with multiple risk factors.

The ACC also said it would distribute educational materials on social media platforms in each of the countries.

“As René Dubos famously stated, we need to ‘think globally, act locally,’” Daniel José Piñeiro, MD, FACC, chair of ACC’s assembly of international governors, said in a news release. “To be effective in changing the culture around treating and preventing heart disease, you have to reach clinicians where they live and practice and beyond a single intervention. We are committed to working with our colleagues in ACC’s international chapters to implement this program in a way that achieves maximum impact and furthers the College’s mission to prevent cardiovascular disease and improve patient care on a global scale.”

Other companies and organizations have launched international programs recently. In January, Medtronic partnered with a Chinese municipal government to expand access to diabetes treatments. In June, the American Heart Association and CSC signed an agreement to improve the care for patients in China who have an MI.