From evidence to implementation: workforce development and team-based care lessons from the WHO Hypertension 2023 & 2025 report

The World Health Oragnization (WHO) 2025 Global Report on Hypertension builds upon the 2023 publication titled “ The Race Against a Silent Killer” . While the 2023 report recommends the HEARTS technical package for cardiovascular disease management in countries, particulalry in primary healthcare context, the 2025 edition advances this recommendation by showcasing how governments and agencies are translating evidence of the HEART package into health systems and examining persistent system gaps undermining hypertension control efforts. Although the 2025 report notes modest reductions in hypertension prevalence across several African countries, these gains have not translated into improvements in detection, treatment initiation, or control coverage. Although the HEARTS package is still recognized as a scalable framework to address deficiencies in health systems capacity for hypertension care, the health workforce crisis remains a major constraint limiting health systems’ responsiveness and the sustainability of control programs. This paper highlights the strategic imperative of embedding team-based care within health systems for tackling the global burden of hypertension.