In World Heart Federation’s Global Heart, this article co-authored by Resolve to Save Lives dives into the impact of HEARTS interventions and improvements to access to medicines made in 2022 in controlling high blood pressure in Ethiopia, and provides recommendations for further progress.
Through patient-centered interventions such as extending appointment intervals, prescription refills, and expanded community-based health insurance, patient retention rose from 52% to 76% and blood pressure control reached 57%.
Key barriers to hypertension control were directly addressed, including out-of-pocket payments, travel time over 60 minutes, and too-frequent clinical visits. These system-level changes demonstrate that tailored service delivery effectively improves treatment adherence and cardiovascular health outcomes in low-resource settings.