Why the study?
Fragmented care, limited validated blood pressure devices, restricted access to essential medicines, and weak quality assurance systems continue to hinder hypertension control and cardiovascular risk management.
The HEARTS Quality Framework provides a structured, evidence-based roadmap for scaling up high-quality, primary healthcare-based hypertension and cardiovascular risk management across the Americas.
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Supports scalable hypertension control in primary care; extends HEARTS strategies with system-level quality indicators.
HEARTS in the Americas is the largest-scale implementation of the WHO's global initiative, with 33 countries participating, 28 having adopted standardized clinical pathways, and about 10,000 primary healthcare facilities engaged. Despite progress, fragmented care, limited availability of validated blood pressure devices, restricted access to essential medicines, and weak quality assurance systems continue to hinder hypertension control and cardiovascular risk management. In response, PAHO and participating countries co-developed the HEARTS Quality Framework. Grounded in regional implementation, this model synthesizes global evidence and lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean. Co-designed by Ministries of Health, care providers, and international experts, it translates HEARTS strategies into actionable system-level objectives. Clearly defined outcome indicators and implementation targets promote institutionalization, quality improvement, and primary healthcare strengthening-supporting HEARTS scale-up and equitable outcomes. With appropriate contextualization, the HEARTS Quality Framework provides a practical roadmap for countries beyond the Region to advance primary healthcare-based chronic disease care.
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Agudelo et al. (2025) studied this question.
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