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2021 World Health Organization guideline on
pharmacological treatment of hypertension: Policy
implications for the region of the Americas
Norm R.C. Campbell,
a,b,
*Melanie Paccot Burnens,
c
Paul K. Whelton,
d
Sonia Y. Angell,
e
Marc G. Jaffe,
f
Jennifer Cohn,
g
Alfredo Espinosa Brito,
h
Vilma Irazola,
i
Jeffrey W. Brettler,
j
Edward J. Roccella,
k
Javier Isaac Maldonado Figueredo,
l
Andres Rosende,
b
and Pedro Ordunez
b
a
Department of Medicine, Physiology and Pharmacology and Community Health Sciences, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of
Alberta, University of Calgary, North Tower, 9th Floor, 1403 −29th Street NW, Calgary, AB T2N 2T9, Canada
b
Department of Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC, USA
c
Head of the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases, Ministry of Health in Chile, Santiago, Chile
d
Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA
e
Department of Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
f
Department of Endocrinology, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
g
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
h
Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital “Dr. Gustavo Aldereguía Lima”, Cienfuegos, Cuba
i
Department of Research in Chronic Diseases, Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular Health, CESCAS, Institute for Clinical
Effectiveness and Health Policy, IECS, Buenos Aires, Argentina
j
Department of Health Systems Science, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Los Angeles, California, Kaiser Per-
manente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Pasadena, CA, USA
k
United States National High Blood Pressure Education Program (Ret.) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute National
Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD, USA
l
Pan American Health Organization, Colombia Office, USA
Summary
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the Americas and raised blood pressure accounts for
over 50% of CVD. In the Americas over a quarter of adult women and four in ten adult men have hypertension and
the diagnosis, treatment and control are suboptimal. In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) released an
updated guideline for the pharmacological treatment of hypertension in adults. This policy paper highlights the
facilitating role of the WHO Global HEARTS initiative and the HEARTS in the Americas initiative to catalyze the
implementation of this guideline, provides specific policy advice for implementation, and emphasizes that an over-
arching strategic approach for hypertension control is needed. The authors urge health advocates and policymakers
to prioritize the prevention and control of hypertension to improve the health and wellbeing of their populations
and to reduce CVD health disparities within and between populations of the Americas.
Copyright Ó2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND IGO license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/)
Keywords: Hypertension; High blood pressure; Health policy; Clinical guideline; Health services; Public health;
Cardiovascular disease
Introduction
In the Americas, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the
leading cause of death, responsible for 29% of all lives
lost (>2 million deaths in 2019).
1−3
CVD is also the
leading cause of disability in the region.
1
High blood
pressure (BP), is the most important reversible risk fac-
tor for CVD and death, with over 50% of CVD events
and 17% of overall deaths being attributed to elevated
BP in the Americas.
1,4
In the America’s over a quarter of women and four
in ten men (aged 30−79 years) have hypertension
(defined as BP ≥140/90 mmHg or taking antihyperten-
sive drugs) and the rates of diagnosis, treatment and
control of hypertension are suboptimal.
3
Indeed, only
35% of women and 23% of men with hypertension have
their BP controlled to an SBP/DBP <140/90 mmHg in
*Corresponding author at: Department of Medicine, Physiol-
ogy and Pharmacology and Community Health Sciences, Foot-
hills Medical Centre, North Tower, 9th Floor, 1403 −29th
Street NW, Calgary, AB T2N 2T9, Canada.
E-mail address: ncampbel@ucalgary.ca (N.R.C. Campbell).
The Lancet Regional
Health - Americas
2022;9: 100219
Published online xxx
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
lana.2022.100219
www.thelancet.com Vol 9 Month , 2022 1
Health Policy
Latin America and the Caribbean.
3
Using the newer
World Health Organization recommendations for initia-
tion of antihypertensive pharmacotherapy, the preva-
lence of adults recommended for antihypertensive drug
therapy is much higher, and consequently, the rates for
treatment and control are much lower.
3,5
In most coun-
tries in the region, the prevalence of hypertension is
increasing with only modest gains in treatment and
control rates since 1990.
3
Although, hypertension is
unlikely to have a causal link it is the most common
risk associated with COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) infection
and death.
6
Approximately 8% of the region's healthcare spend-
ing is attributed to high blood pressure, a wise use of
resources as control of hypertension reduces death and
disability and is highly cost-effective or cost-saving in
most settings.
7
For example, the effective management
of CVD risks, including hypertension, has an estimated
return on investment of 3:1 in low and middle-income
countries (LMIC).
8
There is high variability in the prevalence of hyper-
tension and its detection, treatment and control
between countries and within important subpopula-
tions within countries.
1,3
This variability leads to large
disparities in cardiovascular death and disability with
large economic consequences extending from the per-
sonal to the global level.
1,3,9
In part, some of this varia-
tion may be attributed to variations in guidelines and
their implementation
10
. In the past 5−10 years, impor-
tant global and regional technical documents have been
produced that provide an opportunity to optimize the
prevention, treatment and control of the cardiovascular
disease. These documents highlight the prevention and
control of hypertension.
11−14
This health policy manuscript was developed by a
group of senior public health, global health, clinical,
and hypertension experts primarily to facilitate the
implementation and integration of the new WHO
pharmacotherapy of hypertension guideline with
other global and regional technical documents.
15,16
The manuscript is also intended to be a resource to
those advocating to policymakers. Firstly, we high-
light the facilitating role of the Global HEARTS ini-
tiative and the HEARTS in the Americas initiative to
catalyze the implementation of the WHO guideline
on hypertension.
11,17
Secondly, we provide sugges-
tions for policymakers and health services managers
which can also be used in advocacy by health scien-
tists, clinicians, and organizations. Finally, the docu-
ment emphasizes that beyond the WHO
Hypertension guideline, a strategic approach for
hypertension control is needed. Although important
in the prevention and control of hypertension, the
WHO pharmacotherapy of hypertension guidelines
and this manuscript do not address individual life-
style interventions to control hypertension.
The global HEARTS initiative and the HEARTS
in the Americas program: the CVD risk
reduction approach through hypertension
management
In response to the global health threat from CVD, the
World Health Organization (WHO) global HEARTS Ini-
tiative supports countries strengthening actions to pre-
vent CVD, such as enhanced tobacco control, dietary
salt reduction, increasing physical activity, elimination
of industrially-produced dietary trans fat, and manage-
ment of CVD risks.
11
From the health service side, the
WHO HEARTS is a technical package that aims to
strengthen primary care management of CVD and its
risk factors, with hypertension being the most common
and therefore main point of entry.
18,19
The WHO HEARTS technical package provides sup-
port to standardize and optimize 6 essential clinical
care areas, including Healthy lifestyle counseling, Evi-
dence-based treatment of hypertension and diabetes
using simple directive protocols, Access to high quality
long-acting affordable medications and technology (e.g.,
validated automated BP devices), CVD risk assessment,
Team-based care and Systems for monitoring.
18
In the Americas, many asymptomatic adults do not
access the health care system. For those who do, many
individuals with undiagnosed hypertension are not
screened and are thus unaware of their condition.
3
Fur-
ther, not all of those diagnosed with hypertension are
treated, and a substantial proportion is undertreated
and does not have their BP controlled.
3
In response to
the unmet need to detect, treat, and control high BP,
the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) with
partner organizations and ministries of health have
developed the HEARTS in the Americas initiative, a
regional adaptation of the WHO HEARTS technical
package, to enhance hypertension management and
reduce CVD.
12,13
HEARTS in the Americas provides technical assis-
tance for developing a strategic systematic public health
approach to hypertension control.
12,20,21
The program is
focused on a hypertension treatment cascade approach
that seeks to achieve increased awareness, treatment,
and control of hypertension to reduce relevant ‘care
gaps’.
12,13,22
The pillars of the HEARTS in the Americas
initiative are (1) use of standardized diagnostic and treat-
ment protocols, (2) accurate reproducible BP measure-
ment with recently trained and preferably certified
observers who use accuracy validated automated BP
devices, (3) standardized training for team-based
patient-centred care, (4) standardized data collection to
monitor, evaluate and report on the overall program,
health regions, clinic and clinician performance, (5) the
use of implementation research methods to guide pro-
gram implementation and evolution and (6) innovation
in patient-centred team-based health care (Figure 1).
12
Health Policy
2 www.thelancet.com Vol 9 Month , 2022
HEARTS in the Americas is currently being imple-
mented in 20 countries and is the major model of care
for CVD risk management in this region.
17
Substantial improvements in hypertension control
have been documented in preliminary analyses of pilot
interventions from the program.
23,24
While much of the HEARTS technical package is
reflected in the 2021 WHO Guideline for the pharmaco-
logical treatment of hypertension in adults, the guide-
line provides updated and more specific
recommendations and is an official WHO normative
guideline.
15,16
The 2021 WHO hypertension guideline: policy
implication
In 2021, the WHO released the updated Guideline for
the pharmacological treatment of hypertension in adults
(WHO Guidelines).
15,16
This guideline focuses on spe-
cific critical apriori questions related to (1) the BP
threshold for initiation of pharmacological treatment,
(2) laboratory testing, (3) how and when to use CVD risk
assessment to guide the initiation of antihypertensive
drugs, (4) drug classes to be used as first-line agents, (5)
combinations of antihypertensive drug therapy, (6) tar-
get BP, (7) frequency of reassessment, and (8) adminis-
tration of treatment by nonphysician healthcare
professionals. Systematic reviews, when available, were
assessed for each question, and in the absence of sys-
tematic reviews, primary research was examined. The
GRADE method was used to assess the strength and
certainty of recommendations. The Guideline also
includes examples of standardized and simple treat-
ment algorithms using specific drugs and doses. Nota-
bly, this new Guideline put a considerable emphasis on
implementation.
We review each of eight WHO 2021 guideline rec-
ommendations (Table 1) and provide specific program-
matic and policy recommendations for implementation
(Table 2).
During the last several years, non-governmental
organizations such as Resolve to Save Lives,
33
World
Heart Federation,
34
Lancet Commission on Hyperten-
sion,
35
and the World Hypertension League (WHL)
4
have also produced position statements and ‘calls to
action’ on the clinical management of hypertension at a
population level (Table 3). These non-governmental
positions complement the new WHO hypertension
guideline by helping to identify and address barriers to
hypertension control and by aligning health care profes-
sionals with the need for systematic public health
approaches to control hypertension. However, in addi-
tion to the health system change, the introduction of
new guidelines requires clinicians to change practice to
implement the recommendations and change may be
resisted by some. That is why these guidelines were
developed by the WHO with stakeholder and expert
engagement, including from the Americas, and they are
strongly supported by NGO’s that are leading work in
this area, including RTSL and the WHL.
Figure 1. The pillars of the HEARTS in the Americas initiative.
Health Policy
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Figure 2. HEARTS in the Americas suggested prototype of an integrated clinical pathway and standardized hypertension treatment
algorithm*
*The medications serve as examples and can be replaced with any two medications from any of the three drug classes (ACEis/
ARBs, CCBs or thiazide/thiazide-like diuretics). Start with a single-pill combination (fixed-dose combination) or two individual pills if
FDC is not available.
Health Policy
4 www.thelancet.com Vol 9 Month , 2022
Beyond the WHO hypertension guideline, a
strategic approach for hypertension control is
needed
While the WHO Guidelines focus on drug treatment, the
authors recognize the fundamental importance of univer-
sal access to health care and the role of resilient and pri-
mary care-oriented health systems for the inclusive and
equitable implementation of this Guideline. Thus, for
this Guideline to be successfully implemented, it must
be integrated into a public health systems approach,
such as the HEARTS in Americas initiative. For example,
implementation is likely to require policy to change the
capacity, accessibility, affordability, and quality of pri-
mary care and drug treatments. To facilitate WHO
Guideline implementation, all countries of the America’s
should prioritize implementing the HEARTS in Ameri-
cas Initiative. Countries that are participating in the
HEARTS in Americas initiative should urgently scale
Recommendation Strength of recommendation/certainty
of evidence
Recommendation on Blood Pressure Threshold for Initiation of Pharmacological Treatment
Initiate pharmacological antihypertensive treatment of individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of hyperten-
sion and systolic blood pressure of ≥140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of ≥90 mmHg.
Strong / moderate to high
Initiate pharmacological antihypertensive treatment of individuals with existing cardiovascular disease (CVD)
and systolic blood pressure of ≥130 mmHg.
Strong / moderate to high
Suggests pharmacological antihypertensive treatment of individuals without CVD but with high CVD risk,
diabetes mellitus, or chronic kidney disease, and systolic blood pressure of 130−139 mmHg.
Conditional / low
Recommendation on Laboratory Testing
Suggests obtaining tests to screen for comorbidities and secondary hypertension when starting pharmaco-
logical therapy for hypertension, but only when testing does not delay or impede starting treatment.
Conditional / low
Recommendation on CVD Risk Assessment
Suggests CVD risk assessment at or after the initiation of pharmacological treatment for hypertension, but
only where this is feasible and does not delay treatment.
Conditional / low
Recommendation on Drug Classes to be Used as First-Line Agents
Use of drugs from any of the following three classes of pharmacological antihypertensive medications as an
initial treatment in those requiring pharmacological treatment:
1. thiazide and thiazide-like agents
2. angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs)
3. long acting dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (CCBs).
Strong / high
Recommendation on Combination Therapy
Suggests combination therapy, preferably with a single-pill combination (to improve adherence and persis-
tence), as an initial treatment for adults with hypertension requiring pharmacological treatment. Antihy-
pertensive medications used in combination therapy should be chosen from the following three drug
classes: diuretics (thiazide or thiazide-like), ACEIs/ARBs, and long-acting dihydropyridine calcium channel
blockers (CCBs).
Conditional / moderate
Recommendations on Target Blood Pressure
Recommends a target blood pressure treatment goal of <140/90 mmHg in all patients with hypertension
without comorbidities.
Strong / moderate
Recommends a target systolic blood pressure treatment goal of <130 mmHg in patients with hypertension
and known CVD.
Strong / moderate
Suggests a target systolic blood pressure treatment goal of <130 mmHg in high-risk patients with hyperten-
sion (those with high CVD risk, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease).
Conditional / moderate
Recommendations on Frequency of Assessment
Suggests a monthly follow up after initiation or a change in antihypertensive medications until patients
reach target.
Conditional / low
Suggests a follow up every 3−6 months for patients whose blood pressure is under control. Conditional / low
Recommendation on Treatment by Non-physician Professionals
Suggests that pharmacological treatment of hypertension can be provided by nonphysician professionals
such as pharmacists and nurses, if the following conditions are met: proper training, prescribing authority,
specific management protocols and physician oversight.
Conditional / low
Table 1: WHO guideline recommendations for the pharmacological treatment of hypertension in adults.
Health Policy
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2021 WHO guideline recommendation category
15,16
HEARTS in the Americas key programmatic and policy recommendations.
1. Blood pressure threshold for initiation of
pharmacological treatment
Create, update, improve, and align the existing protocols/algorithms to respond to the new
WHO hypertension guideline requirements (e.g., see Fig. 2 for the standardized HEARTS in
the Americas template protocol). Adapt the protocols recommended by HEARTS in the
Americas initiative based on locally available high quality, long acting, affordable and accessi-
ble drugs.
23
Design a communication campaign and prepare educational materials for health care profes-
sionals, health science institutions, people with hypertension and the public to explain the
new WHO treatment, target BP and follow-up recommendations.
Increase and improve primary health care capacity (specifically trained healthcare personnel
and appropriate equipment) to account for the increased numbers of patients being treated
with the changed treatment, and target BP recommendations.
Increase the technical capacity and resources to improve the quality of hypertension diagno-
sis through staff training and certification on BP measurement and preferably the exclusive
use of automatic, accuracy validated blood pressure measuring devices.*
Establish or revise screening programs to:
1) include questions of CVD, CVD risk, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease.
2) Refer people with these diseases/risks for a diagnostic workup if systolic BP ≥130 mmHg or
diastolic is ≥90 mmHg.
3) Refer people with systolic BP of ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP of ≥90 mmHg without exist-
ing CVD, high CVD risk, diabetes mellitus, or chronic kidney disease for diagnostic work-up.
Use national data to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and the number of people who
will need treatment based on the diagnostic and treatment criteria.
2. Laboratory testing Consider including the ordering of the tests listed below in health care professional, patient
and public education programs, and materials and emphasize not delaying treatment if the
testing is unavailable or delayed.
If feasible ensure there is laboratory capacity and access for hypertension patients for serum
electrolytes and creatinine, lipid panel, HbA1C or fasting glucose, urine dipstick, and electro-
cardiogram.
If not available create a budget for hypertension control that accounts for the laboratory test-
ing.
Establish quality of care protocols (i.e., specific protocols to assess the adherence of clinics
and clinicians in providing specified standards of care) to examine the proportion of those
with hypertension who have appropriate tests.
Provide regular (at least quarterly) feedback to the overall program, clinics, and clinicians on
performance.
3. CVD risk assessment Adjust protocols and education programs to initiate pharmacological treatment without delay
if CVD risk assessment is not immediately available.
Make risk assessment more feasible through more efficient, affordable, and accessible labora-
tory testing.
Establish quality of care protocols to examine the proportion of hypertension patients who
have a CVD risk assessment. Provide regular feedback (at least quarterly) to the overall pro-
gram, clinics, and clinicians on performance.
Promote the use of CVD risk calculators (such as the one provided by HEARTS) installed in
cell phones, tablets, or electronic health records if available. For example, the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) has a country-specific CVD risk calculator APP.
24
People who
already have established CVD are at high risk and should not have these types of general pop-
ulation risk calculation.
4. Drug classes to be used as first-line agents Forecast, plan, and budget for increased capacity and resources related to drug purchasing to
account for the new treatment thresholds (increased number of patients and treatment inten-
sity).
Update the national formulary of medicines and national essential medicines list with a small
number of high-quality antihypertensive drugs, aligned with the new WHO Guideline and
the corresponding protocol/algorithm.
Provide drug procurement and supply to the facility level to reflect the recommendation that
those with controlled BP may be given extended drug refills and only be seen every 3-6
months. Individuals with high CVD risk or comorbidities require closer follow-up.
Establish centralized purchasing mechanisms, such as PAHO Strategic Fund to guarantee
quality and reduce drug prices.
25
5. Combination therapy Include high-quality fixed-dose combination medicines in your national formulary and create
mechanisms to improve their availability and affordability.
6. Target blood pressure Implement a plan to address therapeutic inertia, including provider education and training,
auditing, clinical decision support tools, and communication and information technologies.
Table 2 (Continued)
Health Policy
6 www.thelancet.com Vol 9 Month , 2022
access to their full population. A broader societal
approach is also needed for hypertension prevention and
control, including policy change to improve nutrition,
reduce salt intake, eliminate industrially-produced trans
fat, facilitate physical activity, and reduce tobacco use.
In keeping with the substantial economic and dis-
ease burden of CVD, and with attention to the voluntary
World Health Assembly target to reduce uncontrolled
BP by 25% by the year 2025, all national governments
should have hypertension control as a national health
priority. For example, in the US, the Surgeon General
has declared hypertension control a national priority.
37
Any such action should have allocated a budget compat-
ible with achieving the population BP control target, a
strategic and operational plan, and a governmental -
non-governmental technical working group to oversee
the implementation.
9
The monitoring and evaluation
framework for hypertension initiatives developed by the
PAHO and WHL outlines the key features of a hyper-
tension strategy and operational plan.
38
The framework
provides detailed qualitative and quantitative indicators
that can be used in developing and monitoring initia-
tives for hypertension control.
A hypertension strategy can be mainly based on the
WHO HEARTS technical package. Best practices that
are included in the model can be adapted to the national
context (health care structure, resources, culture,
etc.).
4,18,34,35,39
The strategy should be iterative when
implemented, improving in design as local lessons
demonstrate more effective approaches. National and
regional capacity building should be continuous and
based on implementation research concepts/resources
and regular program review. The program should have
short-term and long-term targets for hypertension con-
trol and focus on enhancing the quality of care pro-
vided.
Systematic implementation of the WHO guideline
globally would likely reduce the current disparities in
death and disability resulting from disparate thresholds
for treatment and control in national hypertension pro-
grams. However, guidelines need to be adapted by coun-
tries when implemented to ensure they meet the
specific needs of their populations. WHO Guideline is
but one approach to achieve the common goal of pre-
venting and reducing CVD and eliminating health
inequities. Other institutions and organizations will
have suggestions for implementing these and other
guidelines based on national and local contexts. The
additional input is welcomed and encouraged to control
this critical public health problem. We also acknowledge
that all guidelines, including those of the WHO, need
2021 WHO guideline recommendation category
15,16
HEARTS in the Americas key programmatic and policy recommendations.
Establish a quality-of-care system for monitoring to regularly assess the proportion of those
with hypertension screened, diagnosed, treated, and controlled at the program, clinic and cli-
nician level.
Adjust systems to obtain the required data, and to monitor and report on the population rates
of hypertension with new thresholds for diagnosis, treatment, and control.
Provide regular feedback (at least quarterly) to the overall program, clinics, and clinicians on
performance.
7. Frequency of assessment Implement the recommendation that those with controlled BP be given extended (90-120
day) drug refills and only be routinely reassessed every 3-6 months (unless they have comor-
bidity or high risk).
8. Treatment by nonphysician professionals Review regulations for services provided by appropriately trained nonphysician health care
providers to include accepted treatment protocols overseen by physicians.
Review and revise health care professional education programs and tools to provide standard-
ized, high-quality education and training for nonphysician health care professionals to treat
according to accepted treatment protocols.
Table 2: HEARTS in the Americas. Policies and programs recommended to support the WHO guideline recommendations for the
pharmacological treatment of hypertension in adults.
*An accuracy validated automated BP device has passed accepted national or international accuracy standards testing by an independent group of
investigators.
26,27
Innitiative Refs.
Resolve to Save Lives.
28,31
World Heart Federation Roadmap for Hypertension −a
2020 Update.
29
World Hypertension League and partners S~
ao Paulo call to
action for the prevention and control of high blood
pressure.
4
The Lancet Commission on Hypertension call to action and
a life course strategy to address the global burden of
high blood pressure on current and future generations.
30
Lancet commission on hypertension position statements
on the global improvement of accuracy standards for
devices that measure blood pressure and optimizing
observer performance of clinic blood pressure
measurement.
27,32
Table 3: Some international non-governmental organization
websites, statements and positions relevant to population
hypertension control.
Health Policy
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clinicians to consider the context of the specific patient
(e.g., drug allergy, indications for other treatments,
patient autonomy, etc.) in implementing recommenda-
tions.
Additional policies to address barriers to hypertension
control
There are many barriers to hypertension control at the
patient, provider, and health systems level.
34,35
Hence
Barrier Policies and programs to address barrier
Lack of knowledge, behaviors and skills of people
with and at risk for hypertension
Programs that enhance public health literacy, skills and behavior change related to hypertension (e.
g., the US national plan to improve health literacy).
35
Inequity in access to affordable, high quality, easily
accessible care and treatment
Ensure adequate resource allocation to ensure easy access to high quality affordable services for
underserved populations and include marginalized populations in the design and implementa-
tion of programs. Establish monitoring frameworks that assess and report outcomes on under-
served subgroups and modify programs to address inequitable outcomes.
Lack of knowledge, behaviors and skills of health
care professionals
Restructure training programs for all health care professionals (undergraduate and continuing
health care education) to be competency based and emphasize team-based patient-centered
public health approaches with quality-of-care monitoring to screening, diagnosis, treatment, and
control of non-communicable diseases, including hypertension. PAHO has a standardized and
very successful hypertension education program for the primary health care team.
36
The health system is designed for acute care and is
centered around health care professionals
Evolve the health care system and its infrastructure to deliver high-quality primary care that is easily
accessible (e.g., home-based care, worksite, community centers) and affordable (preferably free
or low cost).
37
Utilize technology to make care more effective and efficient (e.g., smart phones,
telemedicine)
Lack of screening for and diagnosis of
hypertension
Develop a national hypertension screening program to detect the vast majority of people with
hypertension. Screening sites should include community resources and examples include old age
care homes, dentist offices, blood donation sites, shopping centers, community centers, fire sta-
tions, places of worship and barber shops. Resources are available to aid the development of
hypertension screening programs.
38,39
Suboptimal quality of care Develop a quality-of-care culture using protocols to report performance to the overall program as
well as clinics and clinicians. Develop recognition awards for clinics and clinicians with high per-
formance (e.g., Million Hearts Hypertension Control Champions).
40
Lack of program monitoring Build monitoring and evaluation indicators into the hypertension control program. A PAHO-WHL
monitoring, and evaluation framework outlines the key indicators.
33
Regularly report progress to
the program and, where appropriate, clinics and clinicians.
Lack of adherence to treatment and clinic visits In training programs emphasize improving adherence to treatments and visits. Some strategies like
ensuring treatment regimes in protocols are affordable and straightforward, use of single pill
drug combinations, 90-to-120-day prescriptions when targets are met, blister packs, health care
professional monitoring of adherence, follow-up of patients who miss appointments, engage-
ment of families in the treatment plan, provision of standardized information on hypertension
with individualized written instruction where appropriate, can help to improve adherence.
41
Inaccurate BP devices Develop regulations to only allow the sale of accuracy validated devices for clinical use (including
home and ambulatory BP devices)*.
26,27
Inaccurate assessment of BP Ensure those screening for hypertension and those diagnosing hypertension use an accuracy vali-
dated automated BP device and have been trained and certified to use the device. There is a
standardized PAHO-WHL online training program
42,43
and a list of validated automated blood
pressure measuring devices
44
at the HEARTS in the Americas webpage.
17
Lack of identification of people whose blood pres-
sure is high or normal only when outside the
clinic setting (e.g., white coat hypertension and
masked hypertension)**
Where feasible and affordable, encourage the use of out-of-clinical office BP readings (i.e., commu-
nity, home or ambulatory) to confirm the diagnosis and monitor BP control.
45,46
Ambulatory
blood pressure devices are designed to take many blood pressure readings at regular intervals in
people who follow their usual daily routines. Home blood pressures are those taken in a home
environment, while community blood pressures refer to readings taken outside the home and
clinical office (e.g., a pharmacy).
Table 4: Some barriers to and policies that could enhance hypertension control.
*an accuracy validated automated BP device has passed accepted national or international accuracy standards testing by an independent group of
investigators.
26,27
**
white coat hypertension is a clinical condition where a person only has high blood pressure in the clinical office and normal blood pressure outside the clinical
office. Masked hypertension is a clinical condition where a person has high blood pressure outside the clinical office and normal blood pressure in the clinical
office.
Health Policy
8 www.thelancet.com Vol 9 Month , 2022
there is a need to reassess the overall policy approach to
enhance primary care delivery using a systematic public
health patient-centred approach. The preceding sections
outlined fundamental programmatic changes essential
to implementing the WHO Hypertension Guideline.
Additional critical areas for policy change to overcome
some of the barriers are listed in Table 4.
Conclusion
The HEARTS in the Americas initiative is aligned with
the PAHO Strategy for Universal Access to Health and
Universal Health Coverage and the PAHO approach for
universal primary health care.
47,48
HEARTS in the Amer-
icas provides a state-of-the-art, systematic public health
approach to controlling hypertension with a focus on pri-
mary health care. Likewise, the new WHO Guideline pro-
vides added value with updated thresholds and
approaches for treating and controlling hypertension.
16
There has been significant progress to improve hyper-
tension control in the HEARTS in the Americas interven-
tions. Outside of high-income global regions, Latin
America and the Caribbean countries have higher hyper-
tension control rates than other global regions.
3,12,24
However, success is still largely within national pilot pro-
grams and in many countries, hypertension control is
not yet a health system priority and it remains under-
funded, despite all clinical interventions, antihyperten-
sive drug therapy has arguably the most substantial
evidence that it reduces death and disability and has a
favourable return on investment. So, the opportunities
are now more promising than ever to utilize hyperten-
sion control to enhance population health and eliminate
related health inequities. Countries can take advantage of
these opportunities by setting a high priority to control
hypertension as a model for other NCD management
and implement transformative policies.
The authors urge health policymakers to reexamine
and upgrade the priority for the prevention and control
of hypertension to improve the health and wellbeing of
their populations and to reduce health disparities within
and between populations of the Americas. We further
urge health advocates and health organizations to utilize
the opportunities provided by the recently released
World Health Organization hypertension pharmacolog-
ical treatment guideline and the HEARTS in the Ameri-
cas Initiative to activate policymakers and to create the
political will to improve the control of the top global and
regional risk for death, uncontrolled blood pressure.
Contributors
PO conceived the idea and guided the document devel-
opment. NRCC drafted the first draft manuscript. All
authors reviewed and revised the manuscript and
approved the final version.
Declaration of interests
NRCC reports personal fees from Resolve to Save Lives
(RTSL), the Pan American Health Organization, and
the World Bank outside the submitted work; and sup-
port for attending meetings from Resolve to Save Lives
(RTSL), the Pan American Health Organization, and
World Health Organization. He is also an unpaid advi-
sor to the board of the World Hypertension League. The
following authors declare no financial COI. PO, MPB,
AR, VI, SYA,JC, ER, PKW, JWB, MGJ PO is a staff
member of the Pan American Health Organization. AR
and NRCC are international consultants in the same
organization. However, authors alone are responsible
for the views expressed in this publication, and they do
not necessarily represent those of the Pan American
Health Organization.
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