Management of arterial hypertension: challenges and opportunities

© 2022 The Authors. Clinical Cardiology published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Systemic arterial hypertension (HTN) is still the leading cause of disability‐adjusted life‐years and death globally. It affects over one billion adults globally and 10% of the global healthcare spending is directly related to HTN and its complications. The progress in HTN awareness, treatment, and control rates has plateaued or even deteriorated in the last 20 years, particularly in low‐ and middle‐income countries. The improvement of HTN in low‐ and middle‐income countries face significant resource constraints, governance difficulties, lack of funding and poor prioritization due to competing priorities such as infectious diseases and maternal and child health. Considering the burden of HTN, improving its detection, management and control deserves high priority. The World Heart Federation (WHF) developed a roadmap for HTN, advising health system policies and clinical practices as part of its commitment to improving global cardiovascular health.