Mexico City, February 18, 2025 - More than a hundred workers from the federal Ministry of Health, state ministries, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), and IMSS-Bienestar are participating in the HEARTS National Workshop on Quality Improvement, organized by the Ministry of Health, through the National Center for Preventive Programs and Disease Control (CENAPRECE) and the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).
The workshop seeks to promote the adoption of global best practices in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), especially in the management of hypertension. It also aims to improve the performance of primary health care services by implementing a quality improvement model.
At the inauguration of this workshop, which was attended by health sector authorities, the representative of PAHO/WHO in Mexico, José Moya Medina, celebrated the participation of federal and state health personnel. After this training, they will be facilitators to expand the implementation of the HEARTS Quality Improvement Model at the national level.
He highlighted that this workshop is very relevant because hypertension is the gateway to many non-communicable diseases (NCDs), therefore, “training health professionals to strengthen primary care and improve the quality of life of all communities is very important.”
The HEARTS initiative is being implemented and expanded in 33 countries in the Americas region, including Mexico. Here, it was adopted under the name “Corazones México,” and the institutionalization of this model is sought throughout the country with the objective of establishing HEARTS as the guide to follow for the management of cardiovascular risk, including hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia.
The two-day program addressed essential components of the quality improvement system designed for the HEARTS initiative. Participants from the Dominican Republic and the ministries of health of Chile, El Salvador, Guyana, and Cuba shared their experiences in implementation. The performance of HEARTS and future priorities were reviewed, and the regular use of the monitoring and evaluation system in the institutions implementing the initiative was promoted.
Finally, the role of HEARTS in the Americas as the spearhead of the new PAHO Better Care for Noncommunicable Diseases initiative was highlighted. This initiative aims to strengthen the integration of NCDs in primary health care and expand equitable access to quality services.
