St. Georges, Grenada - February 11th, 2025 (PAHO) - Grenada has joined more than 15 other Caribbean nations to launch the HEARTS Initiative as a way of scaling-up Better Care for NCDs.
Personnel from the PAHO/WHO Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries, the Ministry of Health and St. George’s University, were joined by health care workers for the official launch and training activity hosted from February 11th to 12th, 2025.
The HEARTS Initiative seeks to adopt global best practices in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases and improve the performance of the services using hypertension as the entry point. The initiative aims to achieve better control of high blood pressure and the promotion of secondary prevention with emphasis on primary care.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shawn Charles gave an overview of the Grenada situation, where “one-third of the population has elevated blood pressure levels”.
Dr. Charles commended the HEARTS Initiative for standardizing hypertension care based on evidence, rather than having a situation where blood pressure management is based on where one studied.
“Monitoring is an important component of the program,” said the Chief Medical Officer, who also advised on the recommended approach to managing hypertension: visit a primary care provider who will diagnose and treat and only a refer patient to a specialist when there is a need.
Internal Medicine Specialist, Co-Chair, Department of Clinical Skills, Associate Dean of Clinical Studies St. George’s University, Dr. Dolland Noel, shared that NCDs contribute to 74% of illness worldwide. Also concerning was his observation that “73-percent of NCDs occur in low and middle-income countries, and cardiovascular disease is the leading NCD.”
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Kim Taylor, who delivered remarks on behalf of the Minister for Health, the Hon. Philip Telesford, pledged the Government of Grenada’s “unwavering commitment” to ensuring the HEARTS Initiative is supported. She acknowledged that its initiation requires a “multifaceted approach”, adding that the Government will ensure that personnel received the necessary training.
The Permanent Secretary expressed gratitude to PAHO and partners and acknowledged “great optimism and determination” over the HEARTS launch, adding that the DHIS2 system is instrumental in transforming data collation, as data-driven policy making is the goal.
Community-based health intervention, collaboration with local and international stakeholders and encouraging schools and organisations to promote heart healthy living, were some of the other approaches which Mrs. Taylor said would be implemented.
Dr. Taraleen Malcolm, Advisor for NCDs and Mental Health, expressed her delight with Grenada for “taking the critical step in addressing the growing burden of cardiovascular diseases by introducing the HEARTS Initiative.”
Dr. Malcolm stated that more than 33 countries have adopted the HEARTS Initiative, and more than half of those countries are in the Caribbean. She emphasized that “the global HEARTS Initiative offers a set of proven, effective interventions aimed at strengthening existing health systems.” She further explained how the HEARTS initiative is linked to the Better Care for NCDs, by applying the principles of HEARTS to other NCDs such as diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory illnesses.
Grenada’s commitment, said Dr. Malcolm, aligns with PAHO’s recent commitments made at the Barbados-hosted 2023 SIDS Conference on NCDs and Mental Health, where Grenada and other countries shared their challenges and offered solutions to tackling NCDs and mental health issues. The Bridgetown Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health, which came out of the 2023 SIDS Conference, emphasized the urgent need for integrated, resilient systems that prioritized NCD prevention and management as central to national development”, noted Dr. Malcolm.
Progressive steps saw the hosting of a dedicated NCD side event at the 4th International Conference on SIDS held in Antigua and Barbuda last year. This demonstrates an acknowledgement that NCDs are not just a health problem but a major social economic and development concern. Regional collaboration, strong policy implementation and community level interventions are all central to the HEARTS Initiative and ultimately Better Care for NCDs.
HEARTS is an acronym for:
- Healthy lifestyle counselling
- Evidence-based treatment protocols
- Assess to essential medicines and technology
- Team-based care
- Systems for monitoring
