HEARTS in the Americas

The Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization have spearheaded an initiative with ministries of health and local stakeholders to address leading causes of death in the region. Called HEARTS in the Americas, the program works to integrate into the delivery systems that already exist in the country, and to promote global best practices in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases – which account for nearly one-third of deaths in the region.

The HEARTS model encompasses:

• (H) Healthy lifestyle: counseling on tobacco cessation, diet, physical activity and selfcare
• (E) Evidence-based treatment protocols: simple and standardized protocols
• (A) Access to essential medicines and technologies: access to a core set of affordable medicine and basic technology
• (R) Risk-based management: total cardiovascular risk assessment, treatment, and referral
• (T) Team-based care and task-sharing: patient-centered care through a team approach and community participation
• (S) Systems for monitoring: patient registries and program evaluation

The initiative’s goal is to improve the control of high blood pressure and to promote secondary prevention with an emphasis on the primary health care system. The hope is that by 2025, the HEARTS model will be the model for cardiovascular disease risk management in the Americas.

Through implementing these steps, stakeholders are working towards reducing the number of premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases in the region, and targeting the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing premature deaths from NCDs by one-third by 2030. Solutions exist for helping to lower the number of premature deaths attributed to cardiovascular diseases every year.

Working together, patients, advocates and policymakers across the region can help expand access to necessary services and treatments and improve heart health outcomes for patients.