HEARTS will be the institutionalized model of care for cardiovascular risk management, with special emphasis on the control of hypertension and secondary prevention in primary health care in the Americas by 2025.
HEARTS special issue of the Pan American Journal of Public Health
Global HEARTS Initiative
Global Hearts is an initiative spearheaded by the World Health Organization involving various global actors, including the Centers for Disease Control and prevention of the United States (CDC) and Resolve to Save Lives, among other global actors. The Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) leads the implementation of HEARTS in the Region of the Americas, ensuring that implementation actions are aligned with the strategic priorities of the region, particularly with the universal health coverage resolution, strengthening of health systems based on primary care and with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, specifically those related to the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCD)
HEARTS in the Americas
HEARTS in the Americas is an initiative of the countries, led by the Ministries of Health with the participation of local stakeholders with the technical cooperation of PAHO. The Initiative seeks to integrate seamlessly and progressively into already existing health delivery services to promote the adoption of global best practices in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and improve the performance of the services through better control of high blood pressure and the promotion of secondary prevention with emphasis on the primary health care. HEARTS is being implemented and expanded in 33 countries of the Region to include 6,052 health centers across the Region implementing HEARTS, which together cover approximately 39 million adults in the respective catchment areas. the HEARTS model will be the model for cardiovascular disease risk management, including hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia in primary health care in the Americas by 2025.
Highlights
Since 2016, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has been promoting the implementation of the HEARTS Initiative in the Americas as a regional adaptation of the World Health Organization's Global HEARTS Initiative. During this time, 33 countries in the Region of the Americas have committed to implementing HEARTS, and PAHO has developed many technical resources to support them. Most of these resources are clinical tools for primary healthcare teams and focus on quality improvement.
This compendium aims to group all these clinical tools in a single document under a simple format that facilitates their practical implementation in daily clinical practice. The reader will notice that each tool is summarized on a single page and presented in a modular format. Therefore, each tool can be used together or separately as needed. In addition, at the bottom of each tool, the reader will find the references and hyperlinks to access full texts in case deeper knowledge is required.
HEARTS Technical Pillars
Technical Videos
— Technical package to defeat the global tobacco epidemic
— Technical package to defeat the global tobacco epidemic
— Technical package for salt reduction
— Action package to eliminate industrially-produced trans fat from the global food supply
— Global HEARTS Initiative (WHO)