Cost of primary care approaches for hypertension management and risk-based cardiovascular disease prevention in Bangladesh: a HEARTS costing tool application

Health-care-seeking behaviour in patients with hypertension: experience from a dedicated hypertension centre in Bangladesh

Objective: The study aimed to assess health-seeking behaviour (HSB) and associated factors among hypertensive patients in Bangladesh.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Hypertension & Research Centre, Rangpur, Bangladesh, between January 2022 and June 2022. A total of 497 hypertensive adults were recruited consecutively. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was deployed by the research team for data collection. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to explore the predictors of HSB.Results: The mean age of the hypertensive patients was 52 ± 11 (SD) years. Most of them were aged between 51 and 60 years (33%), female (55%), came from rural areas (57%), and belonged to middle socioeconomic class (68%). One-fourth of the patients (27%) had chosen informal healthcare providers for their first consultation. Fear of stroke (244, 45%), headache (170, 36%), and neck pain (81, 17%) were the three most common compelling causes of their visit to the hypertension centre. Age (aOR 0.78, 95% CI 0.68 - 0.89), male sex (aOR: 1.79, 95% CI 1.05 - 3.10), living in semi-urban (aOR 4.68, 95% CI 1.45 - 15.10) and rural area (aOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.01 - 2.80), farmers as occupation (aOR: 3.24, 95%CI: 1.31 - 8.06) and belonging to lower social economic class (aOR 4.24, 95% CI 1.68 - 10.69) were predictors of visiting informal providers of hypertensive patient. One-fourth of the hypertensive patients received consultation from informal healthcare providers.Conclusions: Raising awareness among patients and proper referral to specialised hypertension centres could promulgate the patients towards appropriate behaviour.

Delivering non-communicable disease services through primary health care in selected south Asian countries: are health systems prepared?

In the south Asian region, delivering non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and control services through existing primary health-care (PHC) facilities is urgently required yet currently challenging. As the first point of contact with the health-care system, PHC offers an ideal window for prevention and continuity of care over the life course, yet the implementation of PHC to address NCDs is insufficient. This review considers evidence from five south Asian countries to derive policy-relevant recommendations for designing integrated PHC systems that include NCD care. Findings reveal high political commitment but poor multisectoral engagement and health systems preparedness for tackling chronic diseases at the PHC level. There is a shortage of skilled human resources, requisite infrastructure, essential NCD medicines and technologies, and dedicated financing. Although innovations supporting integrated interventions exist, such as innovations focusing on community-centric approaches, scaling up remains problematic. To deliver NCD services sustainably, governments must aim for increased financing and a redesign of PHC service.

Human and financial resource needs for universal access to WHO-PEN interventions for diabetes and hypertension care in Eswatini: results from a time-and-motion and bottom-up costing study

BACKGROUND

Eswatini faces persistent challenges in providing care for diabetes and hypertension, exacerbated by a shortage of healthcare workers. The implementation of WHO-PEN interventions aimed to address these issues, yet their effects on healthcare worker time requirements and associated costs remain unclear.

METHODS

This study employed a time-and-motion analysis and a bottom-up cost assessment to quantify the human and financial resources required for scaling up WHO-PEN interventions nationally in Eswatini for all estimated diabetic and hypertensive patients.

RESULTS

Findings reveal that healthcare workers in intervention-arm clinics reported longer workday durations compared to those in control-arm clinics, yet spent less time per patient while seeing more patients. The implementation of WHO-PEN interventions increased the workload on healthcare workers but also led to a notable increase in patient care utilization. Furthermore, a morning peak in patient visits was identified, suggesting potential opportunities for optimizing patient flow. Notably, scaling up care provision nationally with WHO-PEN interventions proved to be more cost saving than expanding standard-of-care treatment.

CONCLUSION

WHO-PEN interventions hold promise in improving access to diabetes and hypertension care in Eswatini while offering an efficient solution. However, addressing challenges in healthcare workforce creation and retention is crucial for sustained effectiveness. Policy makers must consider all aspects of the WHO-PEN intervention for informed decision-making. Trial registration US Clinical Trials Registry. NCT04183413. Trial registration date: December 3, 2019. https://ichgcp.net/clinical-trials-registry/NCT04183413.

Hypertension care cascades and reducing inequities in cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries

Improving hypertension control in low- and middle-income countries has uncertain implications across socioeconomic groups. In this study, we simulated improvements in the hypertension care cascade and evaluated the distributional benefits across wealth quintiles in 44 low- and middle-income countries using individual-level data from nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys. We raised diagnosis (diagnosis scenario) and treatment (treatment scenario) levels for all wealth quintiles to match the best-performing country quintile and estimated the change in 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk of individuals initiated on treatment. We observed greater health benefits among bottom wealth quintiles in middle-income countries and in countries with larger baseline disparities in hypertension management. Lower-middle-income countries would see the greatest absolute benefits among the bottom quintiles under the treatment scenario (29.1 CVD cases averted per 1,000 people living with hypertension in the bottom quintile (Q1) versus 17.2 in the top quintile (Q5)), and the proportion of total CVD cases averted would be largest among the lowest quintiles in upper-middle-income countries under both diagnosis (32.0% of averted cases in Q1 versus 11.9% in Q5) and treatment (29.7% of averted cases in Q1 versus 14.0% in Q5) scenarios. Targeted improvements in hypertension diagnosis and treatment could substantially reduce socioeconomic-based inequalities in CVD burden in low- and middle-income countries.

Cost analysis of the WHO-HEARTS program for hypertension control and CVD prevention in primary health facilities in Ethiopia

Background

In 2020, Ethiopia launched the Ethiopia Hypertension Control Initiative (EHCI) program to improve hypertension care using the approach described in the WHO HEARTS technical package.

Objective

To estimate the costs of implementing the HEARTS program for hypertension control and cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention in the primary care setting in Ethiopia for adult primary care users in the catchment area of five examined facilities.

Study design

This study entails a program cost analysis using cross-sectional primary and secondary data.

Methods

Micro-costing facility surveys were used to assess activity costs related to training, counselling, screening, lab diagnosis, medications, monitoring, and start-up costs at five selected health facilities. Cost data were obtained from primary and secondary sources, and expert opinion. Annual costs from the health system perspective were estimated using the Excel-based HEARTS costing tool under two intervention scenarios - hypertension-only control and a CVD risk management program, which addresses diabetes and hypercholesterolemia in addition to hypertension.

Results

The estimated cost per adult primary care user was USD 5.3 for hypertension control and USD 19.3 for integrated CVD risk management. The estimated medication cost per person treated for hypertension was USD 9.0, whereas treating diabetes and high cholesterol would cost USD 15.4 and USD 15.3 per person treated, respectively. Medications were the major cost driver, accounting for 37% of the total cost in the hypertension control program. In the CVD risk management scenario, the proportions of medication and lab diagnostics of total costs were 18% and 64%, respectively.

Conclusions

The results from this study can inform planning and budgeting for HEARTS scale-up to prevent CVD across Ethiopia.

Implementation of Global Hearts Hypertension Control Programs in 32 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: JACC International

In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Resolve to Save Lives partnered with country governments and other stakeholders to design, test, and scale up the WHO HEARTS hypertension services package in 32 low- and middle-income countries. Facility-based HEARTS performance indicators included number of patients enrolled, number treated and with blood pressure controlled, number who missed a scheduled follow-up visit, and number lost to follow-up. By 2022, HEARTS hypertension control programs treated 12.2 million patients in 165,000 primary care facilities. Hypertension control was 38% (median 48%; range 5%-86%). In 4 HEARTS countries using the same digital health information system, facility-based control improved from 18% at baseline to 46% in 48 months. At the population level, median estimated population-based hypertension control was 11.0% of all hypertension patients (range 2.0%-34.7%). The Global Hearts experience of implementing WHO HEARTS demonstrates the feasibility of controlling hypertension in low- and middle-income country primary care settings.

Financial implications of protocol-based hypertension treatment: an insight into medication costs in public and private health sectors in India

Hypertension is a major public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and calls for large-scale effective hypertension control programs. Adoption of drug and dose-specific treatment protocols recommended by the World Health Organization-HEARTS Initiative is key for hypertension control programs in LMICs. We estimated the annual medication cost per patient using three such protocols (protocol-1 and protocol-2 with Amlodipine, Telmisartan, using add-on doses and different drug orders, adding Chlorthalidone; protocol-3 with a single-pill combination (SPC) of Amlodipine/Telmisartan with dose up-titration, and addition of Chlorthalidone, if required) in India. The medication cost was simulated with different hypertension control assumptions for each protocol and calculated based on prices in the public and private sectors in India. The estimated annual medication cost per patient for protocol-1 and protocol-2 was $33.88-58.44 and $51.57-68.83 for protocol-3 in the private sector. The medication cost was lower in the generic stores ($5.78-9.57 for protocol-1 and protocol-2, and $7.35-9.89 for protocol-3). The medication cost for patients was the lowest ($2.05-3.89 for protocol-1 and protocol-2, and $2.94-3.98 for protocol-3) in the public sector. At less than $4 per patient per annum, scaling up a hypertension control program with specific treatment protocols is a potentially cost-effective public health intervention. Expanding low-cost generic retail networks would extend affordability in the private sector. The cost of treatment with SPC is comparable with non-SPC protocols and can be adopted in a public health program considering the advantage of simplified logistics, reduced pill burden, improved treatment adherence, and blood pressure control.

The HEARTS partner forum-supporting implementation of HEARTS to treat and control hypertension

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), principally ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, are the leading causes of death (18. 6 million deaths annually) and disability (393 million disability-adjusted life-years lost annually), worldwide. High blood pressure is the most important preventable risk factor for CVD and deaths, worldwide (10.8 million deaths annually). In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) launched the Global Hearts initiative to support governments in their quest to prevent and control CVD. HEARTS is the core technical package of the initiative and takes a public health approach to treating hypertension and other CVD risk factors at the primary health care level. The HEARTS Partner Forum, led by WHO, brings together the following 11 partner organizations: American Heart Association (AHA), Center for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC), International Society of Hypertension (ISH), International Society of Nephrology (ISN), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL), US CDC, World Hypertension League (WHL), World Heart Federation (WHF) and World Stroke Organization (WSO). The partners support countries in their implementation of the HEARTS technical package in various ways, including providing technical expertise, catalytic funding, capacity building and evidence generation and dissemination. HEARTS has demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of a public health approach, with more than seven million people already on treatment for hypertension using a simple, algorithmic HEARTS approach. Additionally, HEARTS has demonstrated the feasibility of using hypertension as a pathfinder to universal health coverage and should be a key intervention of all basic benefit packages. The partner forum continues to find ways to expand support and reinvigorate enthusiasm and attention on preventing CVD. Proposed future HEARTS Partner Forum activities are related to more concrete information sharing between partners and among countries, expanded areas of partner synergy, support for implementation, capacity building, and advocacy with country ministries of health, professional societies, academy and civil societies organizations. Advancing toward the shared goals of the HEARTS partners will require a more formal, structured approach to the forum and include goals, targets and published reports. In this way, the HEARTS Partner Forum will mirror successful global partnerships on communicable diseases and assist countries in reducing CVD mortality and achieving global sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Building the health-economic case for scaling up the WHO-HEARTS hypertension control package in low- and middle-income countries

ABSTRACT

Generally, hypertension control programs are cost-effective, including in low- and middle-income countries, but country governments and civil society are not likely to support hypertension control programs unless value is demonstrated in terms of public health benefits, budget impact, and value-for-investment for the individual country context. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) established a standard, simplified Global HEARTS approach to hypertension control, including preferred antihypertensive medicines and blood pressure measurement devices. The objective of this study is to report on health economic studies of HEARTS hypertension control package cost (especially medication costs), cost-effectiveness, and budget impact and describe mathematical models designed to translate hypertension control program data into the optimal approach to hypertension care service delivery and financing, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Early results suggest that HEARTS hypertension control interventions are either cost-saving or cost-effective, that the HEARTS package is affordable at between US$ 18-44 per person treated per year, and that antihypertensive medicines could be priced low enough to reach a global standard of an average <US$ 5 per patient per year in the public sector. This health economic evidence will make a compelling case for government ownership and financial support for national scale hypertension control programs.