The incidence grows steadily; prevention requires sustained effort at the primary care level.
En un hospital universitario de Holguín, cardiólogos y especialistas en salud pública se reunieron para examinar la hipertensión arterial, una enfermedad que avanza en silencio y que se ha convertido en uno de los mayores desafíos sanitarios de la región. El encuentro forma parte de un esfuerzo nacional cubano por coordinar la investigación y la práctica clínica frente a las enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles, esas que se acumulan lentamente en el tejido de una población. La reunión no fue solo técnica: fue también un acto de memoria, reconociendo a quienes construyeron los cimientos de la salud pública provincial, y una señal de que la comunidad médica holguinera comprende la magnitud de lo que tiene por delante.
- La hipertensión arterial se ha consolidado como una de las enfermedades crónicas de mayor incidencia en Holguín, y su vínculo con el ictus y las enfermedades cardiovasculares la convierte en una amenaza silenciosa pero creciente.
- Factores como la obesidad, el sedentarismo y el consumo excesivo de sal alimentan el problema, y aunque son prevenibles, su prevalencia sigue en aumento en la región nororiental de Cuba.
- La estrategia HEARTS provincial organiza foros científicos mensuales donde especialistas debaten tratamientos, comparten hallazgos clínicos y buscan respuestas coordinadas desde la atención primaria.
- El encuentro de mayo reunió a cardiólogos y epidemiólogos con un propósito doble: avanzar en el conocimiento clínico y honrar a los médicos que sentaron las bases de la salud pública holguinera hace décadas.
- La trayectoria ascendente de las enfermedades no transmisibles sugiere que sin intervención sostenida en los consultorios y policlínicos, la carga sobre el sistema de salud continuará profundizándose.
Un jueves de mayo, cardiólogos y especialistas en salud pública se congregaron en el Hospital Universitario Vladimir Ilich Lenin de Holguín para abordar la hipertensión arterial, una enfermedad que no se anuncia con estridencia pero que daña de forma sostenida el corazón, los vasos sanguíneos y los riñones hasta que algo cede. El encuentro se enmarca en el Foro de Enfermedades Crónicas No Transmisibles, una iniciativa nacional cubana de cuatro años de antigüedad orientada a articular investigación y práctica clínica frente a las enfermedades que matan lentamente.
Holguín se incorporó a este esfuerzo en enero del año en curso, comprometiendo un mes por enfermedad crónica. El cardiólogo Reyber Jesús Domínguez Pérez, quien condujo la jornada, subrayó que la hipertensión figura entre las patologías de mayor incidencia en el territorio y que constituye una de las principales causas de ictus en la región. Los factores de riesgo —obesidad, sedentarismo, exceso de sal— son conocidos y prevenibles, pero su presencia sigue creciendo, lo que hace indispensable la intervención desde la atención primaria.
El Dr. Juan Carlos Báster Moro, coordinador de la estrategia HEARTS provincial, destacó que estos foros mensuales han despertado un genuino entusiasmo entre los profesionales de la salud, pues ofrecen un espacio estructurado para discutir los problemas que afectan a una parte significativa de la población holguinera. La jornada también tuvo un carácter de reconocimiento: se honró al profesor Avelino Ageitos Carvajal, con casi cinco décadas dedicadas a la higiene y la epidemiología, así como a la Dra. Lucy Morejón y al Dr. Pedro Martínez Mahiquez, figuras clave en la construcción de la salud pública provincial. En ese gesto de memoria se cifra una continuidad: la prevención que comenzó hace décadas sigue vigente, ahora adaptada a los retos del presente.
On a Thursday morning in May, cardiologists and public health specialists gathered at Vladimir Ilich Lenin University Hospital in Holguín to examine a problem that has quietly become one of the region's most pressing health challenges: high blood pressure. The meeting was part of a four-year-old national initiative called the Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases Forum, which Cuba launched to coordinate research and clinical practice around diseases that kill slowly and steadily—the kind that accumulate in a population over decades.
Holguín province joined this effort in January of this year, committing to dedicate one month each to a different chronic condition, bringing together specialists to present findings, debate treatment approaches, and share what they've learned from their patients. Hypertension, the sustained elevation of pressure in the arteries, was the focus this particular Thursday. It is not a disease that announces itself with drama. It damages silently, straining the heart and blood vessels until something breaks—a stroke, a heart attack, kidney failure. For this reason, cardiologist Reyber Jesús Domínguez Pérez, who led the morning's discussion, emphasized that hypertension ranks among the highest-incidence chronic diseases in the territory.
Domínguez Pérez outlined the familiar risk factors that compound the problem: obesity, sedentary living, excessive salt consumption. These are not mysteries. They are preventable. Yet the incidence of hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases has grown steadily in recent years, he noted, and the condition now stands as one of the leading causes of stroke in the region. The implication was clear: without intervention at the primary care level—in clinics and family medicine practices where people first seek help—the burden will only deepen.
Dr. Juan Carlos Báster Moro, who coordinates the provincial HEARTS strategy, observed that these monthly forums have been received with genuine enthusiasm by health professionals across the sector. The gatherings offer more than just clinical updates; they provide a structured space to discuss the health problems that affect a substantial portion of Holguín's population, particularly in the northeastern part of the island. The forums also serve another purpose: they honor the work of medical pioneers who built the foundation for modern public health in the province.
On this Thursday, that recognition fell to Professor Avelino Ageitos Carvajal, who spent roughly five decades working in hygiene and epidemiology—the disciplines that teach us how diseases move through populations and how to stop them. The gathering also acknowledged the contributions of Dr. Lucy Morejón, who directed the Alcides Pino polyclinic when the province launched its Family Doctor and Nurse program in the early 1980s, and Dr. Pedro Martínez Mahiquez, the territory's chief public health officer. These were not ceremonial gestures. They marked a continuity: the work of prevention and early detection that began decades ago continues now, adapted to a new set of challenges. Hypertension is one of them. The monthly forums suggest that Holguín's medical community understands the scale of what lies ahead.
Notable Quotes
The incidence of these diseases is growing steadily and represents one of the principal causes of stroke in the territory— Cardiologist Reyber Jesús Domínguez Pérez
These forums have been received with great expectation by health professionals because of their content and approach to fundamental health problems affecting a significant portion of the population— Dr. Juan Carlos Báster Moro, provincial HEARTS strategy coordinator
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does hypertension matter so much in Holguín specifically? Is it worse there than elsewhere?
The data shows it's among the highest-incidence chronic diseases in the territory. That's significant because it means a large portion of the population is at risk for stroke or heart attack. When something affects that many people, it becomes a public health priority.
But these are preventable risk factors—obesity, salt, sedentary living. Why hasn't the province gotten ahead of it?
Prevention is harder than it sounds. It requires sustained effort at the primary care level, in clinics where people actually go. You need doctors and nurses trained to identify risk early, to counsel patients, to follow up. That infrastructure takes time and resources.
So these monthly forums—are they just for doctors to talk to each other, or do they change how care actually happens?
They're both. The forums create a space for specialists to share what's working, to debate approaches. But they also signal that this is a priority. When you bring cardiologists and epidemiologists together regularly, you're saying: this matters. We're paying attention.
The article mentions honoring people like Professor Ageitos Carvajal, who worked in epidemiology for fifty years. Why is that relevant now?
Because it connects the past to the present. Ageitos spent decades studying how diseases move through populations. That knowledge—how to track patterns, how to intervene early—is exactly what Holguín needs now to address hypertension. It's not new thinking. It's old thinking applied to a current crisis.
What happens if these forums don't slow the growth in hypertension cases?
Then you're looking at more strokes, more heart attacks, more people disabled or dead in their working years. The incidence is already growing steadily. Without intervention, it will accelerate.