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Background: Hypertension treatment coverage is low in India. A stepwise simple treatment protocol is one of the strategies to improve hypertension treatment in primary care. We estimated the effectiveness of various protocol steps to achieve blood pressure (BP) control in public sector health facilities in Punjab and Maharashtra, India, where the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) was implemented. Methods: We analyzed the records of people enrolled for hypertension treatment and follow-up under IHCI between January 2018 and December 2021 in public sector primary and secondary care facilities across 23 districts from two states. Each state followed a different treatment protocol. We calculated the proportion with controlled BP at each step of the protocol. We also estimated the mean decline in BP pre- and post-treatment. Results: Of 281,209 patients initiated on amlodipine 5 mg, 159,292 continued on protocol drugs and came for a follow-up visit during the first quarter of 2022. Of 33,450 individuals who came for the follow-up in Punjab and 125,842 in Maharashtra, 70% and 76% had controlled BP, respectively, at the first step with amlodipine 5 mg. In Punjab, at the second step with amlodipine 10 mg, the cumulative BP control increased to 75%. A similar 5% (76%–81%) increase was seen in the second step after adding telmisartan 40 mg in Maharashtra. Overall, the mean (SD) systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased by 16 mmHg from 148 (15) mmHg at the baseline in Punjab. In Maharashtra, the decline in the mean (SD) SBP was about 15 mmHg from the 144 (18) mmHg baseline. Conclusion: Simple drug- and dose-specific protocols helped achieve a high control rate among patients retained in care under program conditions. We recommend treatment protocols starting with a single low-cost drug and escalating with the same or another antihypertensive drug depending on the cost and availability.

Generally, hypertension control programs are cost-effective, including in low- and middle-income countries, but country governments and civil society are not likely to support hypertension control programs unless value is demonstrated in terms of public health benefits, budget impact, and value-for-investment for the individual country context. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) established a standard, simplified Global HEARTS approach to hypertension control, including preferred antihypertensive medicines and blood pressure measurement devices. The objective of this study is to report on health economic studies of HEARTS hypertension control package cost (especially medication costs), cost-effectiveness, and budget impact and describe mathematical models designed to translate hypertension control program data into the optimal approach to hypertension care service delivery and financing, especially in lowand middle-income countries. Early results suggest that HEARTS hypertension control interventions are either cost-saving or cost-effective, that the HEARTS package is affordable at between US$ 18-44 per person treated per year, and that antihypertensive medicines could be priced low enough to reach a global standard of an average

Abstract More than half of patients with hypertension require two or more medicines to control blood pressure. Combinations of anti‐hypertensive medicines are available as Single Pill Combinations (SPCs) or Single Agent Pills (SAPs). SPCs of two or more anti‐hypertensive medicines facilitate simpler dosing schedules, decrease pill burden, increase adherence to medicine, and simplify procurement and distribution. Despite this, equivalent combinations of separate pills (SAPs) are often prescribed instead of SPCs under the assumption that SAPs are priced lower. This study compared prices of anti‐hypertensive SPCs and equivalent SAPs in the private health care sector of India. High sales volume anti‐hypertensive SPCs and SAPs were selected from 2018 private sector pharmaceutical sales data. SPCs and SAPs price information was collected from online pharmacy websites between November 2019 and January 2020. Anti‐hypertensive SPCs represent approximately 39.1% of India's private sector anti‐hypertensive drug market. Multiple manufacturers produce the same top‐selling SPCs, suggesting a viable and competitive market. A comparison of SPCs and SAPs across different manufacturers showed that the lowest prices of both SPCs and the sum of component SAPs were nearly identical across different manufacturers. An analysis of dual‐drug SPCs and SAPs by the same manufacturer showed that most manufacturers (five of six) had priced their SPCs higher than SAPs. These observations suggest that the price of SPCs could be lowered to match the combined price of the component SAPs, and manufacturing costs and market forces do not present a barrier to the implementation of anti‐hypertensive SPCs.

Background: India has a high burden of hypertension. While the private sector provides 70% of out-patient care in the country, a significant proportion of patients seeking care from the public sector buy drugs from private markets. This study aimed to describe India’s private sector antihypertensive drugs market at the national and state levels over 2016–2018. Methods: Antihypertensive drugs sales in India from 2016–2018 were analysed using a large nationally representative dataset for the private pharmaceuticals market. In addition, data for five states (Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, and Maharashtra) that were the foci of a large hypertension control program were studied. Results: The Indian hypertension drug market grew at a rate of 6.9% from 2016 to 2018 with a total of 21,066 million pills sales in 2018. Single-pill combinations (SPCs) contributed to 39.1% of total sale volumes. The market comprised of 182 different antihypertensive drugs including 134 SPCs. Total volume of sales covered a maximum of 26% of treatment need for the estimated population with hypertension. Two-drug SPCs had the highest market share (36%), followed by calcium channel blockers (18%), beta-blockers (16%) and angiotensin receptor blockers (14%). Among SPCs, amlodipine+atenolol had highest sales (9.8%). Twenty-five drugs, a mix of single drugs and SPCs, accounted for 80% of total sales. There were large state-to-state variations in sales per capita, preferred therapeutic classes and drugs. Conclusions: Despite the large antihypertensive drugs market, there exists a high unmet need for treatment in India. Inter-state differences in product sales indicate variable treatment practices, underscoring the need for private sector engagement to improve hypertension care practices aligned with national and international guidelines. SPCs contributed to a large share of the private market and inclusion of select antihypertensive SPCs in the national list of essential medications should be considered for the public health system.