Guatemala faces a growing burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases, with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus being the leading contributors to cardiovascular mortality and progression to chronic kidney disease. In 2022, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance began implementing the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization’s HEARTS technical package to strengthen the prevention and clinical management of these conditions in low- and medium-complexity health care facilities.

Objective. To describe an experience with community health champions in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases within the framework of the HEARTS initiative, taking into account territorial characteristics.

11 AUGUST 2026, WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dermatophilosis, a bacterial skin infection characterized by localized skin lesions, is rare in humans and has historically been transmitted through contact with infected animals.

The HEARTS initiative in the Americas is a key strategy for strengthening primary health care and improving the management of high blood pressure, the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In the Dominican Republic, its implementation has evolved toward an institutionalized model focused on quality, governance, and access to medications.

Hypertension is the leading modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In 2025, two major evidence-based frameworks evolved in parallel: HEARTS 2.0, an implementation-oriented clinical pathway for integrated cardiovascular–kidney–metabolic (CKM) care through primary health care, and the updated American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Blood Pressure Guideline, one of the world's leading hypertension guidelines.

Objective: To estimate the proportion of healthcare providers who perceived the HEARTS Clinical Pathway as easy to apply in routine practice and identify perceived barriers and facilitators influencing its use. 

Objective: To describe blood pressure trajectories and hypertension control among patients enrolled in the HEARTS program in south-west Trinidad. 

Objectives: To compare the performance of paper-based record-keeping versus an offline digital app when used by vaccination brigades in Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon in 2025, considering four dimensions: operational efficiency, data quality, usability, and acceptance. Secondarily, to identify distinct user profiles. 

In this special issue of the Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health, we bring together a collection of papers that reflects the evolution of HEARTS in the Americas and the growing experience accumulated by countries in improving the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through primary health care (PHC). Collectively, these contributions demonstrate that advancing PHC is no longer an aspirational goal but an increasingly achievable reality.