AFTER two weeks of training, lay health workers from villages, supported digitally, are ideally placed to care for people with high blood pressure than in conventional facilities, leading medics have noticed.

Professor Niklaus Labhardtp of the University of Basel in Switzerland, co-leader of a recent study based in Lesotho, says in the study summary to be published soon in  Nature Medicine, says that this approach can significantly improve treatment access for many patients.

The study was conducted in collaboration with the National University of Lesotho, with a view to ensuring integration of lay medics into the national health system, where SolidarMed, a Swiss non-profit organisation, noticing that lay health workers equipped with a tablet-based clinical app achieved better blood pressure control than conventional treatment delivered at healthcare facilities.

The Swiss NGO oversaw training and supervision of the community workers, where Dr. Lebohang Sao, the district medical officer in Butha-Buthe, said the model demonstrated how engaging trained community health workers in screening, early diagnosis and follow-up care can reduce hospital admissions and expand healthcare access in rural communities.

Researchers are now examining the cost-effectiveness of the approach, which could prove particularly valuable in countries facing critical shortages of skilled health professionals.

If replicated at scale, the study suggests that empowering communities with digital tools and targeted training may offer a practical pathway to tackling one of Africa’s most pressing silent health crises.

In remote parts of Africa where health centres are often miles away and doctors in short supply, high blood pressure frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated, where the new study in Lesotho suggests that trained villagers, supported by digital technology, could help close that gap.

The findings provide the first robust evidence that a task-shifting model — where specially trained non-professionals take on certain medical responsibilities — can safely and effectively manage hypertension in under-served rural settings.

High blood pressure is one of the leading causes of heart attacks and strokes worldwide. In many low- and middle-income countries, however, a significant proportion of those affected remain untreated due to limited access to healthcare services.

As part of the study, 103 trained lay health workers screened more than 6,600 people across villages over a five-month period. They identified more than 1,200 individuals with high blood pressure, including over 500 with clinically concerning levels.

Around half of those diagnosed began antihypertensive treatment prescribed directly by lay health workers, who followed strict clinical protocols supported by a tablet-based decision-making application. The app guided dosage adjustments for commonly used medications such as amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide.

Patients were monitored regularly, with therapy optimised during follow-up visits. Meanwhile, individuals in the antihypertensive standard care from healthcare professionals at medical facilities.

Overall, patients treated within the layperson-assisted model achieved better blood pressure control than those receiving conventional facility-based care. Importantly, researchers reported no meaningful differences in serious side effects or complications between the two groups, indicating that the community-based model was just as safe, the leading researcher affirmed.