Compendium of essential clinical terminology for hypertension-control programmes

This compendium provides a standardized reference for essential clinical, operational and monitoring terminology used in hypertension-control programmes. Developed to support implementation of the WHO HEARTS technical package, it promotes consistent interpretation and application of key concepts across countries and health-system levels. By harmonizing terminology, the compendium strengthens programme implementation, training, monitoring, quality improvement and reporting, contributing to high-quality hypertension prevention and control services.

The compendium covers terminology related to hypertension diagnosis and classification, blood pressure measurement and monitoring, clinical assessment and management, healthy-lifestyle and non-pharmacological interventions, service delivery, screening and case finding, patient registration and continuity of care. It also defines core monitoring and evaluation indicators to support consistent measurement and performance assessment. Intended for programme managers, primary health-care teams, monitoring and evaluation officers, health-information system specialists, policy-makers and technical partners, the definitions may be adapted to national contexts while preserving conceptual integrity and comparability across settings.