Strengthening the integration of NCDs into Primary Health Care represents a key milestone in a country’s health system response to the Sustainable Development Agenda, with the aim of leaving no one behind.

Moving forward with Better Care for Noncommunicable Diseases is more important than ever

Millions of people across the Americas live with conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, cancer, and mental health disorders. These remain the leading causes of death, disability, and preventable suffering in the region, and require responses that are continuous, accessible, and reliable from the first level of care.

The Better Care for Noncommunicable Diseases Initiative promotes a shift that goes beyond treatment: it supports prevention, risk factor control, and active health promotion within communities. It strengthens local teams, improves care coordination, and ensures that essential services reach those who need them most, without fragmentation or delays.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a dual vulnerability: people with noncommunicable diseases were at higher risk from the virus and simultaneously faced disruptions in their care. This experience underscored the need to protect and maintain these services, especially in times of crisis or emergency.

This website provides updated information on the Initiative's progress, technical resources, training tools, country data, and concrete examples of implementation. All content is focused on strengthening responses that increase security for individuals and communities, building lasting capacities to act better today and be better prepared for tomorrow.

Objectives:

What are the recommended NCDs services in primary care settings?

NCD services in primary care include a range of essential services from health promotion to prevention, screening, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care. The WHO package of essential noncommunicable diseases intervention (WHO PEN), which includes the HEARTS package for hypertension control, provides a framework for a minimum set of interventions to address the main NCDs in primary care. This PAHO initiative will build on and expand country´s current efforts to integrate NCDs into PHC, including HEARTS.

The interventions are for the detection, diagnosis, treatment, and care of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases, and cancer, healthy lifestyle counseling, self-care, and palliative care. They will be scaled up at the primary health care level. As most persons known to have an NCD frequently have more than one chronic condition, it is required a multidisciplinary approach to their diagnosis and management.

Comprehensive NCD service interventions

Click on the titles inside the color bars to display their content.

Cardiovascular diseases⬇️

CVD risk assessment based on the WHO CVD risk chart during clinical encounters; hypertension screening and diagnosis through blood pressure measurement; lifestyle change and drug therapy for hypertension control delivered in primary health care.

More information on:

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

HYPERTENSION

Click on the image to open HEARTS in the Americas

Diabetes⬇️

Early diabetes diagnosis; pharmacological treatment and clinical follow up to achieve blood glucose control; prevention of complications through retinopathy screening, diabetic foot evaluation, cardiovascular screening, delivered in primary health care.

More information on:

DIABETES

CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Cancer screening⬇️

Cervical cancer screening with HPV testing; ablative treatment of precancerous cervical lesions in primary health care; breast cancer screening through physical exam and referral for mammography if indicated.

More information on:

CANCER

CERVICAL CANCER

BREAST CANCER

Health promotion, counselling and education for healthy living⬇️

Nutrition and healthy diet counseling, physical activity promotion, weight management, tobacco cessation, alcohol brief interventions, self-management disease or condition support, healthy schools, workplaces and community settings and linkages from community to health services.

More information on:

Chronic respiratory diseases ⬇️

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease diagnosis and management in primary health care.

Strategic Areas

Toolbox

Better Care for NCDs Dashboard

This portal is a comprehensive resource that compiles regional data to effectively monitor progress in managing chronic health conditions at primary health care.

ACCESS THE DASHBOARD

Strategic line 4 of the Initiative promotes the development of primary health care teams for better care of NCDs. This strategic line focuses on the relevance of the availability of interprofessional PHC health teams and their adequate training, for better care of NCDs..

ACCESS THE LEARNING PATHWAY

This course provides decision makers and health teams with a comprehensive view of the epidemiological context, the gaps in the quality and availability of services, and the challenges to achieve better care of NCDs in PHC.