# WHO guideline for the pharmacological treatment of hypertension in adults (2021)

Publication · id `cardio:pub-who-2021-hypertension-pharmacological` · Cardiovascular Atlas · release `2b2017b84496b985` (public)

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Browse, condition area: High blood pressure  

## In plain language

The 2021 World Health Organization guideline on when to start blood pressure medicine in adults, which medicines to start with, which targets to aim for and who can provide the care.

## Technical summary

Published 24 August 2021 (WHO publication page), ISBN 978-92-4-003398-6 (electronic version), licence CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. The publication page gives 48 pages and the PDF has 61, which this cluster did not resolve. WHO says the recommendations target adult, non-pregnant patients who were appropriately diagnosed with hypertension and counselled about lifestyle changes, and that it graded the evidence with the GRADE approach. This atlas records recommendations 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8, each statement with its own strength label. Recommendations 2, 3 and 7 were not read. Whether a later WHO edition replaces this guideline was not checked.

## Connected pages

- Issuer: World Health Organization (`cardio:who`)

## Provenance

Content hash: e070d94149e7b3f2d2674b7bbad6a88f6f8b08f5d80de209d51ce36a0e856867
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-11
Evidence last checked: 2026-10-11