The Use of Antihypertensive Medicines in Primary Health Care Settings

TLDR: The authors do not intend to substitute the students or prescribers vademecum or medicines’ handbooks but providing an update in their daily questions when comes the issue of whom, what to treat –as far as arterial hypertension is concerned, in primary health care settings.

Abstract: This chapter is drawing out the patterns and evidences for the use of antihypertensive medicines in general and in primary health care settings in particular. It presents the overview of the recent advances in clinical effectiveness of the antihypertensive medicines, but also document the implication for management of hypertension in low level health facilities. The discussions are based on the new evidences from clinical practice, reviews and meta-analysis studies. The chapter as whole is written from a comprehensive health care system development rather than from a purely medicines description perspective. Finally the authors do not intend to substitute the students or prescribers vademecum or medicines’ handbooks but providing an update in their daily questions when comes the issue of whom, what (and with what) to treat –as far as arterial hypertension is concerned, in primary health care settings.