key: cord-0683697-140drj3k authors: Valdés, Gloria; Zúñiga, Carlos title: A small contribution to mitigate the collision of transmissible and chronic diseases, exemplified by the management of hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic date: 2020-12-10 journal: J Hum Hypertens DOI: 10.1038/s41371-020-00461-9 sha: 8fbd2f42bdd623937741b68a7935c534d561e508 doc_id: 683697 cord_uid: 140drj3k nan counselling obtains extra benefits [5] [6] [7] [8] . In addition, telemedicine offers several advantages (Table 1) , including more equal and patient-centered health care in times in which vulnerable groups increase, receive the greatest economic and sanitary toll and require individual support. The way to virtual attention has been paved by affordable and validated automatic blood pressure monitors that permit adequate home controls when performed under the recommendations of the American Heart and the American Medical Associations [9] . Lastly, by the massive incorporation of virtual connections to daily life derived by the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. Free access to ongoing validated protocols would help to rapidly integrate this relatively new form of care, but in the meantime we propose a simple and inexpensive framework that might be adapted to local practices with a pen, paper and digital connections (Fig. 1) . This strategy is possible by incorporating graduates in training in the health careers to build data bases to contact patients while the risks of acquiring COVID-19 persist. Reaching out for patients potentiates the attachment between the health team and subjects under their care, which will improve adhesion to controls, therapy and recommendations. In this occasion it is necessary to identify whether the patient has a selfmeasurement device. In case he has none, pharmacies can play a role. In low income areas medical societies, pharmaceutical industries and profit and non-profit organizations among others must unite efforts to provide individual monitors. Once the crisis is over, the continuity in the use of telehealth in hypertension will require returning to previous protocols, guidelines and quality standards that guarantee safety, ethics, reliability and legal issues. But while health systems continue to be overloaded for an unpredictable time this-or other simple proposals-could contribute to return to a continuous combination of face-to-face and virtual attention that previously diagnosed hypertensives need. Managing hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic How many more will die from fear of the coronavirus? WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. https:// covid19.who.int/?gclid=CjwKCAjww5r8BRB6Eiw ArcckC0TJOpBxrIspInfGsNzrUGH71_3cmpMzL33RpxEz-_-DO0M-PuMp-hoC-BwQAvD_BwE Continuity of care and outpatient management for patients with and at high risk for cardiovascular disease during the COVID-10 pandemic: A scientific statement from the American Society for Preventive Cardiology Long-term outcomes of the effects of home blood pressures telemonitoring and pharmacist management on blood pressure among adults with uncontrolled hypertension. Follow-up of a cluster randomized clinical trial Connected health in hypertension management Effectiveness of home blood pressure telemonitoring: a systematic review and metaanalysis of randomised controlled studies Contribution of telemedicine and information technology to hypertension control Self-measured blood pressure monitoring at home: a Joint Policy Statement from the American Heart Association and