HEARTS in the Americas on World Hypertension Day: Introducing a New Virtual Course to Improve Blood Pressure Measurement - 16 October 2020

To mark World Hypertension Day, deferred to October 17 due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization and Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies, are hosting the event "World Hypertension Day. HEARTS in the Americas: presenting a new virtual course to improve blood pressure measurement and celebrating achievements in protecting people´s cardiovascular health" to be held on Friday, 16 October 2020, from 9:00 am to 12:00pm (EDT).

The event will:

celebrate achievements in protecting people’s heart health
launch of a new virtual course and new tools that will support the measurement and management of blood pressure
share country and partner experiences in implementing hypertension programmes

The session will be available in English and Spanish, with simultaneous translation.

About the webinar

Hypertension affects more than 30% of the adult population worldwide, more than one billion people around the world. It is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, especially coronary heart disease and stroke, but also for chronic kidney disease, heart failure, arrhythmia and dementia. The burden of hypertension is felt disproportionately in low- and middle-income countries, where two thirds of cases are found, largely due to increased risk factors in those populations in recent decades. What’s more, around half of people living with hypertension are unaware of their condition, putting them at risk of avoidable medical complications and death.

Accurate blood pressure (BP) measurement is essential for the proper diagnosis and management of hypertension. BP measurement is perhaps the most commonly performed procedure in clinical medicine and, although it seems simple at first glance, current suboptimal measurement leads to negatively impacting clinical management decisions in 20 – 45% of cases. Assessing healthcare workers performance of BP measurement and how to improve it are key elements of a successful hypertension control program.

Therefore, the event will call attention to the importance of the prevention and control of hypertension to reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases.

The event will be held in two parts: the first, from 9.00 to 10.30 am (EDT), will feature presentations on interventions in hypertension control and country and partner experiences in implementing hypertension programs. From 10:30 am to 12:00 pm (EDT), the event will center on presenting a new virtual course and new tools that support blood pressure measurement and management, available on PAHO's Virtual Campus for Public Health.

Audience

Primary health care teams, medical, nursing and health science students, national programs for the control of chronic and cardiovascular diseases coordinators, professional societies and the general public.

How to participate

DATE: Friday, October 16, 2020
TIME: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (EDT) [see time correspondence below]
RECORDING:

Agenda

Part 1

Moderator: Jamie Guerra, WHO

9.00 am – Opening address. Dr Tedros, Director General, WHO
9.03 am – Scaling up effective treatment of hypertension: A pathfinder for UHC and PHC. Dr Tom Frieden, President, Cardiovascular Health, Resolve to Save Lives
9.08 am – Experience in measuring hypertension in Cote D’Ivoire. Mr Didier Drogba, President of the Didier Drogba Foundation
9.11 am – Message from the World Hypertension League. Dr Xin-Hua Zhang, President, WHL
9.14 am – Improving hypertension control in 3 million people. Dr Cherian Varghese, cross cutting lead, NCD and special initiatives, WHO
9.20 am – Message from the International Society of Hypertension. Dr Maciej Tomaszewski, President, ISH

Learning from the field

9.25 am – HEARTS in the Americas. Dr Anselm Hennis, Regional NCD Director, PAHO
9.35 am – Implementing HEARTS for hypertension control in Trinidad and Tobago. Dr Rohit Doon, Advisor, Health Promotion and Public Health, MoH, Trinidad and Tobago
9.40 am – India Hypertension Control Initiative. Dr Kunwar Abhishek, WHO India
9.45 am – Hypertension country profiles. Ms Leanne Riley, Unit Head, NCD surveillance, WHO
9.50 am – Q and A
10.05 am – ‘Building back better’. Concluding remarks of part 1. Dr Bente Mikkelsen, Director, NCD WHO
10.15 am – Get up and move. Introduce St Lucia video

Part 2

10.30 am – Introduction. Dr. Pedro Orduñez, Regional advisor, PAHO
10.40 am – The relevance of the prevention and control of hypertension and launch of a new resource to improve practices on blood pressure measurement. Professor Norm Campbell, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
11.00 am – New virtual course on accurate automated blood pressure measurement. Presentation of the video and comments. Dr. Tej Khalsa, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. United States.
11.20 am – Access to the course. Navigation on the website of the Virtual Campus for Public Health of PAHO/WHO. Carlos León, PAHO, Panama.
11.30 am – Q and A. Moderator
11.55 am – Closing. Dr. Pedro Orduñez, Regional advisor, PAHO.

Time correspondence

6:00 am.– Los Angeles
7:00 am. – Calgary, Edmonton, Guatemala City, Managua San José, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa
8:00 am. – Rochester, Bogotá, Kingston, Lima, Mexico City, Panama City, Quito
9:00 am.– Bridgetown, Caracas, Castries, Georgetown, Santo Domingo, Havana, Nassau, Washington DC
10:00 am. – Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Montevideo, Paramaribo
3:00 pm. – Geneva, Madrid

For other cities, check the time in the following link